April - Where the old selections sound newer than the new ones...

Greenhornes – Don’t know who they are or where they came from, but this one is a dandy. Simple, basic, garage rock that begs for maximum volume and cold beer. The sloppy playing and under production are spot-on. I hate the term “retro”, but this could have been recorded in 1968 and wouldn’t sound much different. Has been an almost daily listen this month. 4 stars

Nick Lowe – Incredible power pop disc holds up perfectly after 30 years (sorry Jay, but its better than the UK version also). Each song has a hook big enough to catch a whale, and is deftly executed. The tunes and sound are so great, its easy to overlook the brilliantly witty lyrics. Lowe’s characters cut off their right arms, love the sound of breaking glass, castrate Fidel Castro and go see the Bay City Rollers. Highlight unquestionably is “Marie Provost”, where a silent film star dies alone and is devoured by her dachshund. Has a chorus ever been written better than “She was a winner/that became the doggie’s dinner”? I think not. 5 stars

The Answer – Rather pedantic classic rock. We seem to be in the midst of a period where heavy, overproduced rock is hip again, and I couldn’t be less excited. There’s nothing here to distinguish these guys from Wolfmother or any of a half-dozen other groups. Good guitar work and playing throughout. Lead vocals dropped this one a half star. 2.5 stars

Black Mountain – “In the Future”??? “In the Past” would have been a more accurate title. I’m going to cop out and play the “good in its genre” card. If you like that mid-70’s knuckle scraping, Sabbath/King Crimson sound, this was up your alley. This genre bores me; but I can’t say these guys don’t do it well. 2.5 stars

Tool – I wanted to write a Ken-like review telling how my eyes have been opened, and how I respect what these guys are doing. Can’t do it. I suspected I’d hate it, and I did. The only thing worse than the song length and monotonous guitar sound were the God-forsaken “ooh watch out, I’m scary guy” vocals. Elapsed time from last note of disc to said disc hitting the trash basket: 2.76 seconds, ½ second off the record established by Matisyahu in 2006.

Discussion Question

1. I hate to give D’Arcy & Ken more ammunition, but Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” is the one that comes to mind first.

2. I don’t buy into the “guilty pleasure”. If I like something, there’s no guilt. I assume the question refers to a song that would not be on the off-beat paths this group tends to travel on. I’ll go with Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ‘69”.

3. “No Particular Place to Go” – Chuck Berry. It has everything a rock song should have: memorable guitar riff, simplicity, an excellent solo in the middle (battling Johnny Johnson’s piano for attention), adolescent frustration, humor and of course sex, all in under 3 minutes. That is perfection.