Tag: record reviews

Bobby Rush — Porcupine Meat (Rounder)

Bobby Rush earned his first gold record in 1971 largely due to a hit called “Chicken Heads.” Keeping that in mind, it comes as little surprise that over 40 years later, Rush released an album called Porcupine Meat, his first album for Rounder Records. Over the course of his 60-plus-year career, Rush has written over 300 songs and earned three Grammy nominations and a whopping 10 Blues Music Awards to go along with 41 nominations.

Working with two-time Grammy-winning producer Scott Billington for the first time, Porcupine Meat finds the old bluesman pulling new tricks in a New Orleans studio with Keb’ Mo’, Dave Alvin, and Joe Bonamassa all making guest appearances on the guitar. But while the list of guest appearances features an elite group of players, Rush is the real star here.

On “I Think Your Dress Is Too Short,” Rush’s voice is still silky smooth, and the title track “I Don’t Want Nobody Hanging Around” is an instant modern blues classic as Rush lists all the people whom he doesn’t want bothering him day-to-day. But Porcupine Meat isn’t all fun and games. The song “Got Me Accused” is just as socially relevant 40 years ago as it is today, as Rush sings about the racial discrimination he’s experienced. Porcupine Meat is available everywhere this Friday.

The Sheiks — Please Pass the Fruit (Automatic Dope)

Taking a cue from Jack Oblivian — the ace guitarist and songwriter that the Sheiks back up — the power trio known as the Sheiks recently released Please Pass the Fruit, a career-spanning demo tape of sorts that covers 2011 through 2015. Limited to 100 copies, Please Pass the Fruit features recordings culled from sessions at the Burgundy Ballroom and High/Low studios in Memphis, in addition to some Austin, Texas, recording sessions done by Andrew McCalla.

Aside from a pretty amazing cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Only Daddy,” all 14 tracks on Please Pass the Fruit are from the Sheiks’ ever-growing catalog. The Sheiks are currently on tour with Oblivian, but copies of the cassette should be available the next time the band performs locally — which, given the Sheiks’ propensity to play as much as possible — should be sometime before the month is over.

Clay Otis — Addults (High/Low Recording)

Any day that Clay Otis informs me of a new project is a good one. Otis has been obsessed with writing pop songs about prescription speed (see his song “Adderall Girls” with Shadow Brother) for a while now, and it appears he enjoys the subject so much that he’s decided to dedicate an entire album title to the wonder drug taken by children and adults alike. Much like all of Otis’ projects, there is a playfulness found throughout Addults — from song titles like “Redneck Cousins” to the album art that features a crude rendering of Otis as some sort of disengaged, possibly stoned teacher. I know I’d sign up for that class.

But while there’s always some humor present on a Clay Otis release, he calls Addults a departure from his earlier material in the sense that it is a much more personal album. The lyrics on Addults are some of Otis’ best, possibly a product of this being his fifth album in as many years. There’s a new side to the singer here, a side I’d dare call mature. Clay croons, laments, and lets his heart bleed all over Addults, and the result is some of his best work to date.

Favorite Track: “Guiletta and Jesus.”

Jimbo Mathus — Band of Storms EP (Big Legal Mess)

Jimbo Mathus calls his latest EP a collection of cave paintings that turned into folk songs. The Oxford, Mississippi, guitarist is comfortable churning many different genres through his folk/boogie-rock filter, making for a relaxed yet confident batch of songs created in Bruce Watson’s Dial Back Sound studio.

Released just in time for summer, Band of Storms is definitely a party record, made for those who find joy in shot-gunning a beer or holding court while cooking in the backyard with a half dozen like-minded derelicts. There’s nothing serious on Band of Storms, and even the sadness on the song “Slow Down Sun” doesn’t take away from the party that Mathus has created with his laid-back approach to songwriting. While Band of Storms won’t be competing for record of the year in any major music poll, the EP is a testament to the Southern rock-and-roll being celebrated by Fat Possum/Big Legal Mess and a glimpse into what happens when an artist is perfectly comfortable with recording whatever they want, whenever they want. — CS

Favorite Track: “Slow Down Sun”

Ryan Azada — Weird, But Cool (Self Release)

Ryan Azada long stood behind the curtain. He booked bands at DIY spaces all over Memphis, pulling 70 to 80 hours a week at Crosstown Arts, and often hopped onto shows last minute with an acoustic guitar and songs that seemed like they would never get the studio treatment. A proper release was overdue, but it‘s a solid introduction.

Azada‘s debut EP Weird, But Cool spans three tracks and barely hits the 10-minute mark, but he aptly uses his time to scratch the surface of deep-seated cynicism wrapped in oddball hope. Each song on Weird, But Cool is unique, which is a feat for any musician who relies on an acoustic guitar as their backbone.

The OAM Network’s Gil Worth engineered two tracks on Weird, But Cool, “Madison & Cleveland“ and “What I Want to Say,” live at the Pezz practice space. EP-opener “Return to Nothing” features guitarist Scott Scharinger of DADs, who Azada played bass for until they broke up. Azada‘s band combines a cast of musicians woven into his life from previous endeavors. Julien Baker and Matt Gilliam of Forrister lend guitars and drums. Rebecca Flax, another musician from the Smith7 inner circle, plays bass.

Weird, But Cool captures well the humble and distant warmth that embodies Azada‘s live sets, and I hope a full length is forthcoming. — JC

Favorite Track: “Madison & Cleveland”

Evil Dead — Death by Electric Shock EP (Evil Dead Records)

Long before Evil Army became the biggest name in the local metal scene, there was a group called Evil Dead. Inspired by bands like the Misfits and the Reatards, Rob Wilkerson (Aka Rob Evil) picked up his guitar and cranked out five tracks of primitive metal for an EP he would later dub Death by Electric Shock. Sure, these songs are over a decade old at this point, but they serve as the blueprint for what was to come for one of the best guitarists in the history of Memphis metal.

The EP starts with the song “The Underworld,” and while that track is certainly worth the opening slot, the second and third songs — “Death by Electric Shock” and “Destroy the Enemy” — are the real winners here. Both songs showcase Wilkerson’s love of both garage rock and numbskull punk, and the riff on “Death by Electric Shock” is one of the most genre-bending songs any Memphis band from that era has created. This CD is only available at Evil Army shows, but well worth the money. — CS

Favorite Track: “Destroy the Enemy”

Those Pretty Wrongs — Self-titled (Ardent Music)

It‘s inferred in the name Those Pretty Wrongs that an overarching positivity can be born out of loss and missed opportunities. The same unabashed optimism carries the band’s self-titled debut LP, a collaborative project between Big Star alum Jody Stephens and Luther Russell. Stephens and Russell‘s 10-track album rests in the simplicity of earned perspective.

Maybe there‘s no one more apt to speak on the topic than Stephens, the last living original member and drummer of a pioneer power-pop band (Big Star) that never scratched Billboard‘s Top 200 Albums list but wrote the textbook for wave after wave of rising bands.

On Those Pretty Wrongs, Stephens sings the majority of vocals for the first time in his storied career. The album blends soft, folk austerity with electric arrangements and clear melodies that characterized Big Star‘s sound. Stephens’ and Russell‘s harmonies are indistinguishable from those found on #1 Record.

The album was engineered by Mike Wilson at Ardent Studios and mixed by Russell and Jason Hiller at Electrosound in Los Angeles, California. Each song is warm and open — not too polished, not overly produced, and raw as they should be.

Record highlights: “Mystery Trip,” which pays homage to Big Star‘s “In the Street,“ “The Cube,” a track about the lives of traveling circus performers, and the acoustic “Lucky Guy,” where Stephens sings, “You see it half empty, I see it half full, life can be a game of push and pull.” He would know.

Some musicians distance themselves from the efforts of their early career. On Those Pretty Wrongs, however, Russell and Stephens meet at a crossroads, utilizing their strengths to bridge the past and present and create endearing, meditative pop songs. — JC

Favorite Track: “Mystery Trip”

Angry Angles — Angry Angles (Goner Records)

The latest Jay Reatard reissue from Goner Records focuses on almost all the recorded material from one of his most underrated bands: Angry Angles. In a feature on the Angry Angles that appeared in the Flyer in January, Goner Records co-owner Zac Ives called the band “the perfect time for Jay,” as it marked an important period in his career. Angry Angles would be the last time Reatard ever wrote songs with someone other than himself, save for a few appearances by drummer Billy Hayes on the Matador Records singles and a couple recording sessions with Seth Sutton (Useless Eaters) that were never released.

The 17 tracks on Angry Angles span the band’s short but productive career that included the release of a handful of singles and a couple live recordings that weren’t available until now. While a couple of these songs would wind up on the seminal Jay Reatard album Blood Visions, Angry Angles serves as a window into the world of one of Memphis’ most prolific and popular songwriters of the last 20 years. Songs like “You Fell In,” a track about the ’70s horror movie The Pit, and “She’s Dead” have long been buried treasure featured on the Memphis garage punk map but were widely unavailable due to the songs’ being released on small-run singles. Then there are the cover songs, the amazing “Blockhead” (Devo), “Memphis Creep” (Oblivians), and “The 15th” (Wire) all point to not only what was influencing the Angry Angles, but also to the direction that Jay Reatard’s solo years would take.

While the Reatards reissues showed a young delinquent honing his craft and the Lost Sounds reissue showcased an “I can do anything” mindset, the Angry Angles album shines light on a local artist who was about to explode on the national scene before burning too bright.

The street date for Angry Angles is Friday, May 20th, but Goner Records has been selling the album since Record Store Day. If you’re lucky, this piece of Memphis history may still be available on limited color vinyl. One can only hope Goner will dig up some unreleased Final Solutions songs next.

Favorite Song: “You Fell In”

The Bo-Keys — Heartaches by the Number (Omnivore Recordings)

Recorded locally at Electrophonic Studio, Heartaches by the Number is the third album from local soul group the Bo-Keys. Produced by Emmy winner Scott Bomar, the 10-track album is a genre-bending experience that features originals as well as covers by artists like Swamp Dogg and Merle Haggard. Local guitar player John Paul Keith joins the Bo-Keys on this album, and other guests include the Masqueraders and Hi-Records artist Don Bryant.

With the intent of sounding like a collection of songs you’d hear on a jukebox in a honky-tonk bar in Mississippi, Heartaches by the Number mixes original Bo-Key songs with country standards from Hank Williams, as well as songs by Bob Dylan, Charlie Rich, and Ray Price. While this could be dismissed as a cover album, the Bo-Keys put their signature sound all over these songs, and lead singer Percy Wiggins has never sounded better. On songs like “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “The Longer You Wait,” Wiggins is at the top of his game, proving that the Bo-Keys can tackle any genre and still make it undeniably their own.

Favorite Track: “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”

Alicja-pop — Rats: Home Recordings 2009-2013

(Certified PR Records)

Alicja Trout has been quietly creating off-kilter pop songs under the name Alicja-pop for the past seven years. Recorded in her home, the 10 songs on Rats: Home Recordings 2009-2013 showcase the singer’s versatility as a songwriter, as the tracks are far removed from her bands like River City Tanlines, Lost Sounds, or Fresh Flesh.

“I come from loud rock-and-roll bands like Lost Sounds and River City Tanlines, but I have another side. I love pop hooks and fun melodies. I love keyboard icing and lyrics about sweet love. These are my songs I never really intended for anyone to hear. I was just making sounds for my own enjoyment,” explains Trout on the liner notes of this album. While this must be the most “chill” record Trout has released, it’s still a complex creation, with the vibe of the album changing direction with each passing song. “Close ur Eyes” features tons of analog synth with a jangly guitar riff buried underneath, while “I Play the Fool” finds Trout doing her best pop croon over a classic Memphis garage-rock riff.

One of Trout’s best qualities as a songwriter is her ability to make writing music seem so effortless, and that skill is on full display throughout Rats. Sure, it’s a compilation of four years of songwriting, but there is a cohesiveness here that holds these one-and-done songs together.

If anything, Rats shows that Trout can venture into new musical territory without sounding like she’s just goofing around in a home studio. The song “Shadow Hills” is probably the most far-removed from the bar-rock anthems she created with the River City Tanlines, as it moves into some baroque pop territory. The liner notes imply that record label Certified PR chose 10 songs out of a plethora of home recordings Trout has accumulated over the years, meaning there’s got to be more gems sitting around somewhere. Hopefully, the next collection is released soon.

Favorite Track: “I Can’t Remember.”

Super Witch — Has Risen
(self-released)

Super Witch had the distinct honor of opening the Black Flag, Black Oak Arkansas show that went down at the Young Avenue Deli last year, a performance that pretty much served as the Midtown metal band’s coming out party. On Has Risen, Super Witch ride the line between stoner rock and modern metal, cranking out 10 songs of heavy-hitting, adrenaline-raising, metal thumpers that they call horror rock. Bands like Super Witch are what the recording studio Rocket Science Audio was made for, and so it makes perfect sense that the group enlisted Kyle Johnson to engineer four of the songs on Has Risen, giving the album a primal, live sound. The rest of the record was engineered by Dik LeDoux at M.A.P. Studios, and while LeDoux’s mixes are noticeably cleaner, the result is still pretty much the same.

The song “Spaceship Cadillac” was almost certainly written by Super Witch guitarist/vocalist Eldorado Del Rey, a Memphis songwriter who’s been known to name-drop Cadillacs in his other band, Eldorado and the Ruckus. Overall, Has Risen is a solid release from a new band on the Memphis metal circuit. The songs are fully realized, with pretty amazing titles like “The House that Dripped Blood” and “Island of Lost Souls” thrown in for maximum effect. I could see them on the next Rob Zombie film soundtrack. I could also see them getting mad at me for saying that.

Favorite Track: “Smash Your Own Face”

Candice Ivory — Love Music
(self-released)

Love Music is the latest album from Candice Ivory, the Memphis singer who now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Recorded at the Electric Room in Memphis, and R&R Music Labs in St. Louis, Love Music is a collection of 12 “avant soul” recordings that make for a layered album that’s not easily digestible on the first listen. Although the record’s title suggests a positive outlook, there is an inherent sadness throughout Love Music, especially on songs like “Hitchhiking in a Dali Painting,” “Old Friend,” and “Dead Girl Walking.” That doesn’t make this record depressing, and great songwriters have the ability to take their listener on an emotional journey throughout the course of an album, something Ivory does on Love Music with ease.

Candice Ivory

“Love Music is a record in the good old sense of the word — it holds together as a whole thing and takes the listener on a trip from start to finish, from euphoria to heartbreak and finally, a little wiser for the journey, to new hope and understanding,” writes Pat Burke in the liner notes of Love Music. And while he’s certainly right about the heartbreak part, I don’t know that I have new hope and understanding after listening to this album. If anything, I’m left a bit confused, which, in a way, is the most appealing part of Love Music; it’s an album that allows the listener to draw their own conclusions after listening.

Favorite Track: “Hitchhiking in a Dali Painting”

Jack Oblivian ­­— Dream Killer
(Mony Records)

The inaugural release on Jack Oblivian’s Mony Records comes in the form of a demos and outtakes cassette tape called Dream Killer. While it’s unclear whether Jack Yarber will turn Mony into a full-fledged label, his first release is a must-have for any fan of his, or Memphis rock-and-roll in general. With 21 tracks spanning songs written with the Sheiks and as a member of the Loose Diamonds, Dream Killer is a glance into this Memphis musician’s impressive solo career, and proves that the Disco Outlaw is at the top of his game, even when he’s recording demos.

This thing would make for a killer LP (hint, hint), but for now you’ll just have to settle for the cassette, which comes with a full-color booklet featuring comic-esque art from Michael Watson. While garage rock has never been a perfectionist’s genre, it’s truly remarkable that someone like Yarber can crank out this many hits and make it seem as effortless as just hitting play on a four-track. With so many new garage bands cropping up in Memphis, it’s a great sign that one of the forefathers is still at the top of the food chain, even if he’s just releasing demos that didn’t make an album’s final cut. I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re ready to hear any other demos Jack has laying around.

Favorite Track: “Boy in a Bubble” and “Guido goes to Memphis.”

Love — Reel to Real (High Moon Records)

Arthur Lee was born in Memphis, so we’re going to go ahead and claim him, even if he did most of his prolific songwriting with Love in Los Angeles. If you’re unfamiliar, Love was one of the best American rock bands of the 1960s, known for their psychedelic rock and politically charged, socially conscious lyrics. Reel to Real was the seventh studio album by Love and features Lee playing with some of the same musicians on the unreleased album Black Beauty.

While it is the last studio album by Love, Reel to Real has never been released on CD until now, or at least until November 27th when the CD version is available for purchase. The songs on Reel to Real feature equal parts psych-rock and Stax-oriented soul, and the CD reissue comes with a 32-page booklet that includes an essay by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke. Reel to Real isn’t exactly classic Love, but it is an interesting part of Lee’s discography and perhaps gives the listener a hint as to what the re-imagined Love would have sounded like (the one that featured Memphis musicians Jack Oblivian and Alicja Trout) had the band ever recorded. Reel to Real is pretty much a must-have for any fan of Lee and features 13 bonus tracks of alternate mixes and studio rehearsals.

Favorite Song: “Which Witch Is Which”

Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra — If I Can Dream (Legacy Recordings)

Released late last month on Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings, If I Can Dream is the orchestral Elvis album you’ve been waiting for. The album features classic Elvis vocal performances with brand new orchestral accompaniment, along with appearances by Michael Bublé, Il Volo, and Duane Eddy. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios by producers Don Reedman and Nick Patrick, If I Can Dream features 14 classic Elvis songs like “Love Me Tender,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and “In the Ghetto.” If I Can Dream is part of the ongoing Elvis 80th birthday celebration of 2015, along with other Elvis projects, including the launch of the largest Elvis retrospective ever mounted in Europe: “Direct From Graceland: Elvis at the 02.” If I Can Dream is the perfect album for the holidays, with the vinyl version coming as a double LP.

Favorite song: “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”

Hierophants — Parallax Error (Goner Records)

Last year, Goner Records introduced America to Ausmuteants, an Australian synth-punk band that had been gaining steady momentum in Australia and Europe. After releasing two albums for Ausmuteants, Goner seemingly discovered Hierophants, another synth band featuring Ausmuteants’ de facto leader Jake Robertson. Hierophants claim that their music is the aural equivalent of throwing your calculator into the ocean, but that really doesn’t make any sense, so let’s dissect a little bit further. After digesting Parallax Error, I found that I liked the collection of cleverly written synth-pop songs. Unlike the Ausmuteants tracks that sometimes sound like they are going to fall apart at any moment, everything on Parallax Error is calculated, with no room for leftover noise. Mostly Hierophants remind me of a repackaged, Australian version of hardcore-era Devo, with short, two-minute songs for the easily distracted modern mind.

Favorite Song: “Nothing Neu”

Amy G. Starks — Nightime (Socialscenerecords)

Recorded all over Memphis at studios of old like BR Toad (best name ever?) and Easley-McCain Recording, Nightime is a collection of old and new Amy G. Starks songs, the singer most known as an integral part of the first Memphis punk band, the Klitz. The title track is a Big Star cover, and Nightime also features Starks covering “Brown Sugar” (Rolling Stones), “Call Me” (Tony Hatch), and “Let’s Make Love” (Aaron Hall), with most of the songs coming from a recording session at Easley-McCain that took place in 1982 and 1983. The Klitz’s mighty cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” is thrown in for good measure. “Nowhere Near,” the only new song on the album, comes in the form of a collaboration with Kip Uhlhorn of Cloudland Canyon. Ross Johnson, Jim Dickinson, Doug Easley, and Jim Spake are also all over this album, making it a pretty interesting release from a group of musicians and producers who have been shaping the Memphis music scene for years. Socialscenerecords is a new label started by Stephen Burns of the Scruffs, and hopefully more archival releases from Memphis artists are in store.

Favorite Song: “Brown Sugar”

Shadow in the Cracks — self-titled (Goner Records)

Shadow in the Cracks is the project of Jim and Mike Blaha of the Blind Shake, the band that released Breakfast of Failures on Goner Records last year. While the Blind Shake’s music seems written exclusively for the live setting, the tracks on the debut album by Shadow in the Cracks sound like they were perfected with the help of some studio magic, although the band did put on a great performance at Gonerfest 12 this past September. There are equal parts lo-fi psych-rock and kraut-rock minimalism running through this self-titled debut from the Minneapolis-based band, and it plays like a cohesive album, making the fact that it was written in two months and recorded in two days that much more impressive. Another win for the Blaha brothers, who show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Favorite Song: “Timeless”