The Hoax "Big City Blues"

 

Just before heading to bed is when I usually read up on music news.  Trolling a British classic rock site about six weeks ago, I run across a story headline that reads, "They're back:  the new single from The Hoax."  I know I blurted out loud, "WHAT!?!?!?"  Ladies and gentlemen, one of the greatest blues albums of the 90's was their debut album, "Sounds Like This." 



The band lasted less than a decade and produced just two more studio albums and a live record.  Teenagers when the debut dropped.  Not a chance in hell did I believe it, but true it was.  The next time I heard of any connection whatsoever, the year was 2003 and the Davey brothers, founders of The Hoax, were listed as producers on the major label debut by Indigenous.  They also had co-writing credits and contributed some guitars and vocals.  The younger of the brothers, Robin, has had the most work since with a couple other bands and as a music video producer.  Little did I know that The Hoax had reformed four years ago for a European tour.  Guess the fires were stoked at that time for the new record, which was funded by another of the pledge drives that have become popular recently.  Hell, if I had known I'd have thrown a few bucks their way to have my name read off on the closing composition of the album, too (since I didn't, the final five minutes of the track's seven are tedious).  My guess is the next to last song, sung in French, is also a nod to a large donation.  So throw out those two as gratuitous...of the remaining ten, six are class A material, and the opening three rank A+. 

I'm going to pass on showing the official video for the lead track because I think the mix is different from the album's and not nearly as good.  Found a decent live version, though...



If SRV was still alive today, that's what he & Double Trouble would probably sound like.  Two smokin' guitars.  The title track is next and my note said, "this is what The Fabulous Thunderbirds would have sounded like had they decided to ever evolve."



And now, I give you Cream...



The note on this one referred to Paul Rodgers, maybe Free, and possibly Jack White with the lead riff. 

I posted live versions because I want you to BUY THE DAMN RECORD!  Well, I guess you have to download it.  I got mine through Amazon for $9, but if you don't have the budget or desire to do so, at least get these first three tracks @ 99 cents each.  I can think of so many ways you spend more than $13.50 an hour (equivalent) which aren't remotely rewarding as this will be.  Since liking the band's Facebook page, a recent post states, "We entered the Triple A radio song chart at #153 and moved to #103 in the Triple A Public Album Charts in the USA this week."  Beats the hell outta me what they are referencing but I hope it's true.  Would make ye olde Mad Rocker mighty happy to know he's not alone over here across the pond.  I find myself increasingly bummed, however, that the chances of them ever playing live in the U.S. are infinitesimal.  After viewing these live performances, I decided to look for any DVDs they might have.  Sure enough, there are a couple, but are they still country coded (all the youngsters started laughing at that, I'm sure)?  Guess I'll have to find out...

Donna The Buffalo "Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday"

 

Hard to forget a name like this.  The first time for me was 1998 when they were picked up by Sugar Hill Records.  We didn't have a Folk or Americana section and I swear we filed them in Country based on Sugar Hill being known for bluegrass music.  If I heard any, it didn't impress me.  We may have had one or two more of their records pass through the store before I left the business in 2003.  So I was very surprised at seeing this new album arrive in a BKP care package, wow...nearly four months ago.  As I've mentioned, it's been such a good year for interesting releases (still sitting on eleven I haven't even committed to disc yet) that I pushed this one to the back of the pack since I didn't have any history with them.  I was curious, though, at how/why there was a new album from a band that I don't believe we ever sold a single copy of years ago and haven't heard of since. 

The proverbial "duh" moment struck when conducting a bit of research.  Festivals.  More and more each year, it seems.  D the B's alternative folk/Americana/zydeco/jam band persona allows them to play just about any of them.  Alas, I don't think any amount of  'shine or skunk weed would make me sit through a set...or any more of this record. 

I don't mean for a second that it's a complete dud, it's just that most of it falls outside of my musical comfort zone.  It's hard to put into words what makes me uneasy listening to this because normally I would be accepting of all the various pieces of this puzzle, except one...the male vocals.  My God, are they bad, and they are front and center in the mix, loud and proud.  Eesshh.  The woman, however, is less grating and occasionally they run her voice through some studio effects to positive results.  There ain't enough knobs on the board to help the guys...

Oddly enough, one of the three songs I'm keeping features a male lead vocal.  Here is a live version that finds him actually improving on the studio take...



The strength of the song itself makes it worthy.  The organ was key, and damn, was that thing beat up or what?!  The other two keepers feature Tara Nevins' vocals, one her composition and the other a zydeco cover. 

I looked for some chart success and found none...for any of their releases.  The road is where artists make money these days and they must do OK. 

Won't find me at one of their shows.....even if I'm comped.

Queens Of The Stone Age "...Like Clockwork"

 

It's their first #1 album and 4 out of 5 people say it's their best yet.  Count me in the minority as this will be the one that breaks the 21st century run of keepers within the Mad Rocker QOTSA catalog page.

I listened to it sober; I listened to it after a party favour; I listened to it first thing in the morning; I listened to it late at night.  As I repeated spins, I found myself liking songs less.  It's not supposed to work that way.  Plenty of times I raised an eyebrow at a sonic passage but little raised the hair on my arms like previous albums.  You can talk all you want about the famous contributors but I dare you to listen and point them out without cheating and scanning the credits.  Going to keep three songs, first one came four tracks deep...



Still love what the guy does with his voice.  Always make me think of Adrian Belew.  My favorite track came four more songs down the queue...



This sounds like it was borne from Homme's time spent with John Paul Jones in Them Crooked Vultures.  One of the comments from a woman read "and just like that, every piece of underwear in that place fell immediately to the floor," and another said, "I think I just got pregnant."  Dammit, that's funny...

Sure wish I had a better grasp on why this didn't work for me as a whole like the rest of their body of work.  Certainly not going to write them off, though...

56 Years Between Albums!

Well, not from just one band, but two.  The first one I'll tackle has a twenty-seven year stretch between records, and about twenty years ago I gave up hope of it every coming to fruition, even though the band would regroup to play live on occasion. 

 

The best band from Minneapolis you've probably never heard of.  Let's set the time frame to 1975-85 and revisit some of the names you'll know that hailed from the Twin Cities area:  The Replacements; Husker Dü; Soul Asylum; on a smaller scale, Information Society; and, oh yeah, Prince and The Time.  I didn't hear of The Suburbs in small-town Tennessee until they were signed to a major label in 1984 and the promo vinyl arrived at the shop. 

 

Hey, it's 30 years ago, don't bitch about the video quality...it's the energy of the music that sparkles.  Still have two of their CDs in my Featured 500 display in the office.  So take that new wave/dance pop, horn-fueled, off-beat lyrical collection and wizen it up three decades and you have "Si Sauvage."
No, I have no clue what it means, unless it means "brilliant!"  Thank goodness for these Kickstarter, PledgeMusic, fan-driven funding projects.  I certainly hope this isn't a one-off project because it's one of the best albums of the year, by far.  I'll give it a 9 of 10 score, only demerit because it's short (37 minutes) and contains one less-than-excellent track.



Three original members, including lead vocalist/keyboardist Chan Poling (who I noted sounded like Doc Neeson from The Angels on one track, Chris Thompson wrapped in the Manfred Mann Earth Band days on another, and even The Boss on one more) and guitarist/vocalist Beej Chaney.  The bands that immediately popped into mind as I played the record included Madness, Huey Lewis & The News and The Flaming Lips!  This is not an easy album to find and it's a damn shame because it could appeal to the college radio demo, not just us old farts.  The MP3 on Amazon is $9 and if you give it three spins I'll guarantee you'll be satisfied with your investment.

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The incredible mathematicians among you have discerned that the next album has a 29-year(!) span between records. 

 

Early in my junior year and squarely in the explosive development of my Mad Rocker persona, punk music was everywhere and I JUST HATED IT.  One fateful day, and probably with a major buzz-on, I heard this breath of fresh...

  

My pre-teen, science-fiction-loving self bought the original 45 (still have it somewhere) and the stoned, twenty-year-old me was blown away.  The scene was dubbed New Romantic, a very fashion-oriented movement which considered David Bowie and Roxy Music to be gods.  Visage was essentially the brainchild of a couple of club owners with clout, hiring some talented musicians from other bands (became a Midge Ure/Ultravox fan because of this...never got into Magazine, though).  It pioneered the New Wave movement of the 80's for me, which resulted in some of my favorite music of that decade. 



Visage was short-lived, just three albums.  Front man, fashionista (and heroin addict) Steve Strange turned out to be too much of a freak to work with and the hired guns folded back into their previous bands.  Beats the hell out of me how/why this new record developed, but I admit to being surprised at how viable it actually is in 2013.  You heard snippets of several tracks in the above video.  It's not just keys and electronics, there's some appropriate guitar placement and the addition of the female vocalist is a major plus.  Strange was never a good singer on his own but he wrote some catchy tunes.  This one has embedded itself in my brain...



Those live pieces are culled from a show in London a few months back and the old queen was having to read the lyrics to some of his songs.  The ravages of drug abuse...  I also wondered if he might have been lip-synching and after watching the above video and how perfectly the studio audio track synched up with the live edit, I may be right. 

This is certainly better than the last OMD album and if you were ever into The Human League, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, etc., you'll love this record.

The Wild Feathers

 

Went to a Paul Simon concert 12/4/11 and walked in while the opening act was playing.  Five guys in jeans and tennis shoes playing a country/rock-ish set with some catchy tunes and fine harmonies.  I had to ask who the band was since there was no mention of an opening act.  I was impressed enough to be curious.  Marched out to the merch table with the full intent of buying a CD but only found a couple of EPs, no full-length.  Hmmm...and they were opening for a legend...  The next day I tried to find them on the 'net and was basically stymied.  The most informative source I could locate was a blog by the sister of one of the band's members.  All the guys were Texans and a couple of them had moved to Nashville, but they would meet up to do shows like the one I witnessed.  Damned odd, don't you know.  Not satisfied, I kept digging, and sure enough, I discovered that Warner Brothers was courting them.  "That explains that," thought I and closed the book. 

A year and a half goes by without another thought of them, but browsing amongst the August new releases I see the name, so I finally get to follow through on my intention from 619 days earlier.  And I'm not disappointed..............but I'm not blown away, either. 

The harmonies are wonderful (all the guys were lead singers in previous bands) with immediate comparisons to The Eagles.  I hear a little LRB, too.  One of the fellows is a dead ringer for Chris Robinson, hence the many references to The Black Crowes I spotted while researching.  I also noted Tom Petty, who was also bandied about within many of the reviews.  Additional repeated terminology included; The Band, Neil Young, bluesy, gritty, road trip, Mellencamp, engaging, wistful, The Wallflowers, freewheeling, earthy, and on and on. 

The album's opener has been featured in the "Nashville" television series but it wasn't until track #5 before I heard a true keeper...
 


It was the next song that made my ear's perk up and my mind to say, "there it is..."



That wrapped up everything from the concert I enjoyed about them...good song and great vocals, though this is a subdued radio performance.  They've been out on the road supporting ZZ Ward and will also open shows for others, like Needtobreathe, but they get to headline every now and then (i.e.. Halloween night in Little Rock, AR), and I'd recommend seeing them live in one of these smaller venue settings while you can. 

I'm glad this band has had some early success.  Several of my Mad Rockin' devotees found them without any assistance on my part, and that's a good sign.  I'll keep twenty minutes.  The remaining 31 are just fine, somewhat recycled, but fine, nonetheless. 

But if given the choice, I'm playing the Dawes record.

Ana Popovic "Can You Stand the Heat"

"...it's really not all that bad.................................for a girl."

 

That was the closing line from my post on her previous record a couple of years ago.  If you didn't bother to click the link to read it (I'm not looking for page views or $...it just saves me time providing the background so I don't have to rehash it), I touched on the trilogy of playing, singing and writing.  For "...Heat," I found the guitar work more solid and the writing vastly improved, and I discovered the cause as I researched the record.  Instead of flying in from Europe to record in Memphis, this time she relocated the family to the iconic area.  No more dipping the toe in the water and getting out.  In a recent interview, she mentions the family-oriented vibe and was shocked by the quality of the local music scene, and not just on Beale Street, either.  She debuted a nine-piece band for the album (pedigrees include BB King, Al Green & Rufus Thomas), which is the first on her own label, also a wise career adjustment. 

 

F#&K ME RUNNIN'!  If that doesn't make you bounce, you're dead!  There is a sexy, sassy vibe throughout the album which is an ensemble showcase, not just Ms. P. on display.  She says by being European, she doesn't have to stay within a certain genre like most American blues artists seem to do, and this album is proof.  She mentions being influenced by Ronnie Earl and Albert Collins (one of my favorites) and on one of the record's instrumentals you can certainly hear her channeling Mr. C.  There is a guitar break in a track way on the back end of the album that would make Tommy Bolin grin.  Also included is a cool cover of Robert Palmer's "Every Kind of People" for those of you who need something familiar.  Oh, and she can still play the blues...  



I started spinning this CD a month ago and immediately checked her tour schedule, and dammit, she was playing a show in Tampa on the following Friday night that was too busy for me to break away to see.  Crap!  Sitting down yesterday to start this post, I go back to her website and sure enough, she's back in driving distance three times over the next eight months.  Planning on two road trips in early '14. 

This album's been available for six months and had a decent showing on Billboard's Blues and Heatseekers charts, but that doesn't do justice to this album.  This is a career-defining record in the category of Raitt's "Nick of Time" and Tedeschi's "Wait For Me."  I've got twenty-something new albums in my queue, but "Can You Stand The Heat" has earned an extended stay in the rotation. 

It's that good...