Clinging Frappe

Purling Hiss – Hell and yes.  Loved this one from the opening notes of “Lolita” all the way through.  If there is such a thing as a grungier Black Keys, these guys would be it. Title track squeal fest is a doozie with the headphones on.  Glad KB didn’t wait until late December to get me this one so I can pencil it in the top 10 ahead of time.  4.5 stars

Wyldlife – Nothing fancy about this one.  Heard “Saturday Night” on Little Steven’s show and submitted without hearing the rest of it.  Nothing else touches that song, but this is pretty consistent throughout.  Good no-brainer summer disc.  3.5 stars

Gary Moore – Didn’t do much for me.  Very dated, has that awful 80’s production sheen, and the guitar work is all about number of notes instead of quality.  Almost completely non-descript.  2 stars

Megadeath - Surprisingly, I didn't care for it.  Making it through 3 1/2 songs took every bit of open-mindedness I possess, and lo I am weary from the effort. 1 star 

Discussion Topic

The USPS smashed the shit out of Mike's discs, so I didn't get to listen.  As an ex-bassist myself, I was looking forward to hearing them.  Fortunately, with Mike’s copious notes, I can see a few that were left out:

1)      Bill Wyman – Like his partner in crime Charlie Watts, a very understated and tasteful player who gets overlooked because of a lack of flash.  “Miss You” is about a funky a bassline as you’ll hear, and of course, he handled the straight up rockers with equal dexterity.

2)      Graham Maby – “Is She Really Going Out with Him?”, “I’m the Man”, “Stepping Out”, “Sunday Papers”, etc...  Every memorable Joe Jackson song is fueled by Maby.  Like Entwistle, he treats the bass like a lead guitar and just carries the melodies. Sorely underappreciated.

3)      Duck Dunn – On just about every great Stax single ever made.