MUSIC REVIEWS
Dean's List= Highest Achievers
A= Excellent
B= There may be hope for you yet!
C= Pathetically average
D= Probation: One more like this and. . .
F= Pack your shit bro, the party's over.
By B. Love, DeMarco Williams John Moore & Lee Valentine Smith
On the Dean's List
LITTLE RICHARD
Here’s Little Richard (Specialty/Concord)
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
LVS With the opening pronouncement of “a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop…" on his signature tune “Tutti Fruity,” Macon-born Little Richard almost single-handedly invented the archetypical rock and roll record in 1955. If that had been his only hit, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock and roll” would have easily secured a place in any hall of fame. But for a brief period in the late ‘50s, the flamboyant Mr. Penniman’s output was legendary -- and his ground-breaking influences and recordings will forever shape rock, soul and r&b music and inspired many of the biggest stars of any generation. Over the years, numerous reissues of his work have surfaced but the excellent Here’s Little Richard is his first full-length disc. Including a number of his early hit singles, it was the first collection of what would eventually comprise many of his greatest hits. “Slippin’ And Slidin’,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up” and “Jenny Jenny” all made their album debut on the original LP. Released in 1957 and recently reissued by Concord Records, the new, deluxe edition stands as the perfect package of the overall best recording from his gloriously erratic career. Of special interest to collectors is the inclusion of two original demo recordings, produced in his hometown at WMBL-AM. Tame in comparison to the wildly emotive recordings that would soon follow, the two tunes, “Baby” and “All Night Long,” show the raw origins of the young performer’s style -- and his polite opening introduction of “Little Richard and the Upsetters” is priceless. A bonus cut features an edited interview with Specialty’s Art Rupe, speaking about his often-frustrating dealings with Richard, an artist who insisted on doing things his own way, including turning his back on secular music, shortly after Here‘s Little Richard was originally released. “He’s unpredictable,” Rupe says. “He’s like an unfinished diamond.”
VARIOUS ARTISTS
I Have My Liberty! Gospel Sounds From Accra, Ghana (Dust-to-Digital)
Captured and enraptured by the Spirit.
BL I’m not what you’d call a religious person, but some of my most vivid memories of growing up in Georgia involve churches (and not the staid ritualism of the Episcopal Church in which I was raised).
There was a Holy Rollers church tucked away in the strip mall next to the Food Lion where we did our grocery shopping, and I remember seeing them open the doors to let those who’d been overcome by the Spirit catch their breath, with raucous gospel music spilling out onto the sidewalk as worshippers clapped their hands, shook their tambourines and sang to the heavens. And then there was the time my aunt took me to a Southern Pentecostal church, in which speaking in tongues was not uncommon. Both experiences seemed surreal– larger than life– and I was enthralled by that sacred connection to a higher power. I Have My Liberty is all about capturing those rapturous moments of divine spiritual connection. Recorded by producer Calpin Hoffman-Williamson in various churches around Ghana’s capital city of Accra, the album offers an immersive experience in homegrown musical expression, as flawed and un-self-conscious as those memorable moments from my childhood. The PA systems are distorted, the rhythms are not always perfectly syncopated, and not every voice always finds its note. And yet, as the singers build in call-and-response, tambourines shake, hands clap and rise towards the heavens, and ramshackle instruments drive the faithful forward towards salvation, the imperfection proves utterly perfect. From slow worshipful dirges to wild praise songs, these tunes incorporate a broad variety of influences (ranging from traditional drumming and highlife to reggae and American gospel), resulting in a messy musical melting pot. This is the sound of Africa.
EL CAMINOS
Get To The Top (Uncle Punk)
The record the New York Dolls should’ve made.
LVS For the sixth official release from these streetwise Atlanta stalwarts, the venerable rockers have crafted what is, without any doubt, their best effort yet. Sure, it took five previous releases and 17 years, but the Caminos have finally created a near-perfect record for their genre. In the wake of their former benchmark, the snarling Raised By Wolves, the quintet has raised the bar on scruffy ‘70s style punk-injected rock to offer, in an economical half-hour, an ebullient timeline of their almost encyclopedic knowledge and influences. With standout cuts like the catchy yet poignant “Hospital Bed,” the raucous title track and the instantly-likable “Picture,” singer JJ Camino’s lyrics, coupled with the input of new recruit Lars Camino, propel the 10-song disc to a frenzied punk-rock nirvana only hinted at in previous releases. From the opening track “Picture,” the band, which also features CC, Paul and Dave, all infamously known by their Ramone-inspired surnames, have taken the best of the CBGB’s combo of rock, glam, country and punk and crafted a record that the New York Dolls should have made as the follow-up to their own debut. With the capable aid of co-producer Jeff Bakos (Rancid, GG Allin) the band issue a defiant dare to the success they’ve already achieved. |
THE PROJECTION
While You Were Out (Paramount Drive)
Cookie-cutter pop-punks come off half-baked.
JM Missing the mid- to late-‘90s? So are The Projection. If their latest album is any indication, music stopped mattering for this Illinois trio sometime after Sum 41 and Blink 182 stopped being played over the radio ‘round the clock. Their latest album is 10 tracks of sugary pop-punk (albeit punk in name only) that’s about as threatening as the clerk with freckles, braces and temporarily dyed hair at your local Hot Topic.
The guys are not bad musicians, just utterly predictable. It’s as if they were following a template they picked up at a booth on the Warped Tour about 10 years ago: bouncy songs about being dumped (“Trying to Forget You”), the standard we’ll-always-have-that-summer ballad (“Always Remember”) and an ironic cover (Buddy Holly’s “Oh Boy”). While You Were Out is just a few lyrics away from being a tribute album to every suburban kid’s favorite band circa 1999. Can’t wait ‘til they discover emo… (C-)
THE SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS
High Maintenance (Effective Entertainment)
Nothing’s shocking.
BL There are three facts likely to color your preconceived notions of the Sexual Side Effects: Singer/multi-instrumentalist Amber Taylor is the transgendered scenester best known for the glam/punk event Glitterdome; the band’s name is decidedly tongue-in-cheek; and their debut EP’s cover features a dolled-up Taylor in a bridal veil, with a red ball gag in her mouth.
These three facts might lead you to expect over-the-top outrageousness cut from the Impotent Sea Snakes’ cloth. But High Maintenance is, in fact, relatively tame, featuring straightforward alt-rock informed by ‘70s glam and ‘80s post-punk influences. Even the rocking “I’m In Love With A Girl (But She Used To Be A Man)” is about as risqué as Katy Perry. If you strip away the suggestive shenanigans, the John Briglevich-produced High Maintenance is actually a promising debut, but it’d be nice to see Taylor and company challenge their songwriting skills a bit more moving forward. (B)
fIREHOSE
lowFLOWs: The Columbia Anthology ’91–‘93 (Columbia/Legacy)
Early 90’s college-rockers return… sort of.
JM The fact that fIREHOSE was even a band, let alone one with a strong enough catalog to justify a two-disc special re-release treatment, is surprising. When D. Boon accidentally died in the mid-80’s abruptly ending punk heroes The Minutemen, the last thing bassist Mike Watt wanted to do was start another band, still morning his band mate and one of his closest friends. As fIREHOSE legend has it, Ed Crawford (a 21-year old Ohio college student at the time) was partying with the band Camper Van Beethoven, who told him, jokingly, that Watt was auditioning guitar players for a new band. He looked up Watt and somehow managed to convince him to listen to him play. Not long after, the recently retired Watt was in a new band. Though they were around for eight years, they were always unfairly being compared to Watt and Hurley’s former group. The comparisons were ridiculous (but expected) as fIREHOSE was more CCR and Dylan influenced then the harder, rawer Minutemen sound. As lowFLOWS shows, the band was not afraid of melody, but don’t confuse that with selling out. fIREHOSE still exercised brilliant musicianship and plenty of lyrical righteous indignation. Funny and provocative as ever, Watt and the boys skirted through the 90’s as one of college rock’s best kept secrets. The songs still sound just as strong as they did in the early ‘90s, especially tracks like “Down With the Boss” and “Toolin’.” Though their early SST records didn’t make the cut, this collection includes remastered versions of 1991's Flyin' The Flannel and 1994's Mr. Machinery Operator, the hard-to-find live EP Live Totem Pole and a slew of other rare and out-of-print singles. Its little coincidence that lowFLOW is coming out just as the band is reuniting for a series of shows this spring and summer, including Coachella. Fly the flannel high this summer. (A-)
TRUCKSTOP HONEYMOON
Steamboat in a Cornfield (Squirrel)
Bluegrass wrapped in punk-rock ethos.
JM One is a fluke, two is an anomaly, but three is clearly a trend. “Bluegrass punk” may finally be getting its due thanks to bands like Larry & His Flask, Old Man Markley and Truckstop Honeymoon, all of which combine banjo with standup bass, irreverent lyrics and a DIY punk-rock attitude. Steamboat in a Cornfield is the seventh record from the husband and wife team of Katie Euliss and Mike West. The 16-track record calls to mind everyone from the two aforementioned groups to Squirrel Nut Zippers and Louis Armstrong. The Dixieland jazz sound comes naturally to the duo, which called New Orleans home before Hurricane Katrina pushed them on the road (the band eventually landed in Kansas, which I can only assume is the meaning behind the record’s title). The duo takes turns at the mic, and their music is at its best when they’re delivering quirky songs like “She Wants to Be French” or the “Grateful Dead Show,” which is hands down the best song ever written about a Deadhead trying to woo an underage girl. Bluegrass has long been maligned thanks to its embrace by pretentious pricks and jam band fans, but the snickers and eye rolls may finally come to an end now that the genre’s been infected by fans of Social Distortion and The Clash. (B)
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