-- Recent Listens --

J. Geils Band
The Morning After, '71


Forget the crappy 'Centerfold' and 'Freezeframe', which made huge green for this Jewish, Massachusetts, blues/rock band in '81.  The real deal was 'Whammer Jammer', off this, their 2nd LP.  Magic Dick's harmonica, sounding like no other mouth could, hit high, vibratory, staggering runs, Peter Wolf's barren vocals, tight, bittersweet odes to lost love, gained love, leave me alone love and live shows made JGB one helluva fun band.  Listen to their first ('70) and this one back-to-back to give you a feel of their power.  And, if you're in the Boston area, Aug. 14, 2010, you might want to check out JGB and Aerosmith at Fenway Park.  Blow your face out.

Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac, '68

This first LP, lovingly referred to as 'dog and dustbin', is steeped in the Brit Invasion blues/rock.  Instead of relying on all blues redos, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer (both guitar, vox, writing) wrote 8 of the 12 tunes with a sincere and ballsy recklessness that still rocks.  On this revamped CD, there is 19 tracks of various takes and masters that give you the feel of being in the studio with them.  Songs like 'Long Grey Mare', 'My Heart Beat Like a Hammer' and 'I Loved Another Woman' prove that early Mac was not 'Rhiannon' or 'Landslide'.  Thank you Peter Green.  The first three Mac had Green at the helm and all are worthy of repeated listens at maximum volume.

The Lounge Lizards
The Lounge Lizards, '81

The cover gives you an idea as to why they described themselves as 'fake jazz': white shirts, skinny ties and '50s hair.  Sax man, John Lurie, incredibly harnesses his punk/no wave/rock/jazz/everything else licks in a rambunctious display of challenging tunes, such as 'Ballad', 'Wangling' and 'Demented'.  Lurie is a monster as is complicated guitarist Arto Lindsay.  A wild and wooly ride.  Not ordinary.  Extraordinary.

Arcade Fire
The Suburbs, '10


You know you're in trouble when "the critics" all claim a band is "the best" and they receive all "the awards".  Arcade Fire did that in '04 with 'Funeral', a bleak, depressing trudge through, well, a funeral.  How fun is that?  The 3rd CD from this Canadian, "critically acclaimed" group is as bland as a bowl of cream of rice.  I like the idea of violin, cello, xylophone, glockenspiel, mandolin and hurdy-gurdy as much as the next indie snob, but with only a few exceptions, this release needs a lot of honey, cinnamon, butter, pecans, milk and raisins to make it more palatable.  And way more fire.

Slade
Whatever Happened To, '77

Just looking at my 8-track copy of Slade's 1972 classic, "Slayed?", gives me the glam bumps.  How could you not like original classics such as 'Gudbuy T'Jane', 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now' and 'How D'You Ride'?  Seeing them about 10 times in concert in those early 70s made me a die-hard fan.  In the 70s.  So, I felt some allegiance to purchasing this, their 7th.  No silly song titles or playful lyrics, this one romps and rolls with hard rock ferocity without sounding dated.  Other than scoring 17 straight Top 20 hits in those 70s, their 'Merry Xmas Everybody' (single, '73) is the most iconic Christmas pop song in the UK.  I wonder if I can get that on 8-track.