BLOODY RED BARON
October reviews
by Mike Baron
THE ORANGE PEELS: Sun Moon (Mystery Lawn Music)
This bay area quartet plays organic and tactile West Coast pop slightly reminiscent of Teenage Fanclub but with richer vocal harmonies, starting with “The Words Don’t Work,” a chiming jangle of jangling chime that sets the stage for the rest of the record. Rich harmonies adorn most of these songs including the Beatlesque “Your New Heroes” and the canyon rock, “All At Once” with its attention-grabbing bridge and delayed hook. John Moremen sounds a little like Jimmy Page.
The wordless “Traveling West” hits the sweet spot with one/two chords. “Grey Holiday” is as sweet as the Hollies or Turtles and “Watch Her Fly” is another chime missile.
A little uneven but the good here is very good.
Three and a half stars.
THE CONNECTION: Let It Rock! (King Yum)
This Boston-based quartet mines the same down and dirty sewers from whence sprang Eddie Cochrane, the Blasters, Chuck Berry and rockabilly. This is meat and potatoes fuck art let’s dance rock and roll, from the perfect swirling organ pop of “The Way Love Should Be” to the barrelhouse piano of “Crawling From the Wreckage.” Many influences delivered with heart and brio–Radio Days on “Thinking About Leaving,” the Stones “Girls In This Town,” and Chuck Berry on “Let It Rock” which is, let’s face it, “Johnny Be Goode.”
The jacket lists thirteen tracks but wait! There’s more! Much more. In fact this record clocks in at just under an hour with twenty-two tracks including the Ramone-ish “I Think You’re Dizzy,” with its Beach Boiys ooh-ahhs, to the purely Beach Boyish “Little Miss GoGo,” to Al Kooper’s “Wake Me, Shake Me!”
Four stars.
GI AND JO: Three Songs
Gi and Jo have a sleek, urban R&B feel due mainly to Stephan Hoff’s songwriting and keyboards, which recall Georgio Moroder, and singer Joellen Cabot’s astonishing voice with its enormous range and tensile strength. “Tuesday Night” is a slinky minor key torch song with a killer hook, a seduction primer from a worldly woman.
Stephan sings the Tower of Power-ish “Don’t Be Steppin’ On My Groove” with Motown panache. There’s a bittersweet quality to much of their work including this song which looks back at life from the middle. The horn section sounds like trumpet, sax and ‘bone. “Red” is defiant rage channeled into a searing ballad and has been nominated for a Grammy. “I do not regret the raging bitch that I’ve become,” Joellen sings like an arcing comet with just a touch of melisma.
Five stars for the three songs. These will eventually find their way onto a CD, or so they tell me.
THE CHERRY DROPS: Everything’s Groovy (Pyramid)
The Cherry Drops wear their power pop hearts on their sleeves and there’s a lot of technique here between Vern Shank’s and Joshua Cobb’s ferocious guitars as heard on “Melvfin’s On the Make.” But the songwriting chops are not up to their abilities as most of the originals sound like novelty songs, although big credits for even naming a song “Schlemiel, Schlimazel, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated.”
“Pop, Pop,” “Malibu Surf Report,” and “Cutie Patootie” sound like what a bunch of good musicians might play at a neighborhood jam session, songs with changes every body knows. Technically speaking, “I Wanna Be With You” is the best song on the album. More credit for resurrecting the Syndicate of Sound’s “Little Girl.” “Malibu Surf Report” sounds exactly like it should, a warm Beach Boys pastiche.
Three stars.
