Kiss My Ass Guys....

The A’s –  Never heard of these guys, but this has got to be early to mid-80’s.  Sounds like a cross between the Boomtown Rats and the Hooters minus the hootie thing.  Incredibly dated, and doesn’t hold up well against similarly big-haired, skinny tied bands of that era. 2 stars

Ladyhawk – Like Built to Spill, its all about the guitar jams at the end of the songs.  The problem is that getting there isn’t always easy. Listened to this thing at least a half dozen times, and cant remember a single tune except the one where they steal from “Got to Get You Into My Life”, so the songwriting is weak.  Unusual for me in that the longer a track went, the more I enjoyed it. An easy disc to play loud and become immersed in the Crazy Horse styled jams, but making it to that point was a chore at times. 3 stars

Keith Top of the Pops – On the plus side, there’s some good straight on pop/rock going on here, particularly on “Girl” and “Go Away”.  There’s also an appealing sense of humor on those and a few others.  The minus side is that two or three duds are too many for a 10 song, 30-minute disc.  Didn’t like the vocals buried so far down in the mix, particularly on “I Hate Your Band”.  If you’re going to call out every band in England, man up and make the names audible.  Fairly entertaining and equally forgettable. 3.5 stars

Hayes Carll – While his debut was hit and miss, nearly every track on this disc scores a bulls-eye.  The band is incredibly flexible, handling rave-ups and straight country tear-jerkers (tell me “Chances Are” wasn’t made for Willie to cover) with equal aplomb.   Carll’s character sketches are richly vivid, notably the “Major Tom”-like soldier of the title track and the two beer-goggled antagonists of “Another Like You”.   One of my favorite discs of 2011. 4.5 stars

Sleeping With the Aviary – An innaresting disc.  Unusual to hear so many doo-wop type flourishes in what’s essentially low-fi garage music.  Somehow SWTA make the “sha-la-la”s and finger pops work with the abrasive guitar sound.  Love the lyrics on “Karen, You’re an Angel”.  Fades a little at the end, but overall an admirable job of sounding current while being obvious about incorporating the past. 3.5 stars

Drummers – I need to know the intent to review this one accurately.  If this is a collection of Greg’s favorite drummers, cool beans and rock on with your bad self.  If this is a collection of great songs featuring excellent drumming, I didn’t like some of the songs, and actively hate a few of them (Chicago, ELP).  If this is supposed be a representation of the greatest drummers in music, I believe any “greatest drummer” list that omits Keith Moon, Charlie Watts and Clyde Stubblefield is negligent.

Discussion Question

Picking out a “favorite” artist is impossible, but to play along I’ll go with Bruce. Favorite album is “Born to Run” and least favorite is “Human Touch”. I would not want to replace any song on BTR, particularly with one from “Human Touch”. If forced at gunpoint, I suppose “She’s the One” is the least important cut on BTR, and the title track is the best of the dregs on “Human Touch”.