I hereby proclaim that in the year 2005, The Deathray Davies will save rock and roll
Having been shamed into cheapskate-dom with the recent move and ongoing relationship upheaval, I finally decided I couldn't hold myself back any longer and snagged the latest Deathray Davies CD - "The Kick and The Snare" - on Saturday, and I've been in a Deathray Daze ever since. In a nutshell, it hasn't yet emerged from my CD player - unless you count the times it's been shuffled between my car and home stereo.
All I can say is, wow. I haven't been this dazzled by an album since last year's "Live In Aught-Three" by James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards. I was seriously beginning to lose hope, too. I like the newest Razorlight a lot, and Los Super 7's "Heard It on The X" is great - and I've yet to trip on the new Foo Fighters - but there's something about this one that takes total control of me, getting me off my fat, lazy, tired ass, making me bop around and play furious, idiotic rounds of air guitar, like what you'd get if you crossed Pete Townsend with Jackie Chan. Yeah, it looks stupid and I don't give a shit. I played it for Carmen last night and she described it as 'kinetic.' She's always able to come up with the most perfect one-word descriptions.
Songwise, there are several standouts on the entire album. You couldn't ask for a better send-off than "The Fall Fashions," whose initial blast totally took me back to that first Psychedelic Furs album, for some reason. The second song, "Release the Squid (Box 6)," rises to the challenge of the first one. My other favorites so far have been "Stumble," with its twists and turns, and it's obvious that my song of the week is "Chainsaw." I can't get the damn thing out of my head. That sing-songiness of it all, the chorus - "I'm coming for you!" - punctuated with Devo-esque keyboards, pounding guitar, and lyrics that'll make you wonder, "Am I really singing along to this?" And "Alaska" delivers a great ending. It's all kick-ass, though. No doubt next week there'll be some new tracks I'll find myself playing over and over, but there's something for everyone on this CD: no shortage of infectious, kinky guitar hooks, and original, smartly-crafted wordsmith wonder, guaranteed to make you giggle like a loon. Pure pop goodness. Never a dull moment.
So if the thought of supporting your local working musicians makes you all tingly and altrusitic inside, consider adding this gem to your CD collection. If that doesn't sell you, maybe this will: just last month, The Deathray Davies played the Lebowski Fest in Louisville, Kentucky, winning a place in my heart forever.
Mark my words: they're here to steal your ever-lovin' rock and roll heart, too. And if you buy "The Kick and The Snare" now, later on you can entertain and eventually bore the grandkids with your stories of livin' and lovin' in the Summer of the Deathray, 2005.
Both Dallas and Ray Davies should be very proud, indeed.
Other albums I shouldn't have bought with dodgy credit, but did anyway:
Gary Stewart - "Out of Hand" and "Your Place Or Mine." One of those two-CDs-on-one deal, purchased from the Ernest Tubb Record Store in the Fort Worth Stockyards, where I'm sorry to say the owners were definitely not as friendly as their counterparts at the flagship store on Broadway in Nashville. Oh well. Both contain tons of songs not on "The Essential Gary Stewart," and the last song on Out of Hand is "Williamson County," the murder ballad Gary Stewart penned with his wife, Mary Lou, who according to Jimmy McDonough's Perfect Sound Forever article, was the love of Gary's life (and loved to flash her boob job at anyone who asked). God bless Gary Stewart, and Mary Lou, too. I hope Jimmy McDonough writes their story. I just read his tome on Russ Meyer and despite some initial misgivings, it does seem like he'd be the right one to bring their tumultuous, tawdy, and heartbreakingly true story to life. Maybe their surviving daughter, Shannon, will be open to the idea, or even has plans for her own version.
And why the hell isn't Gary Stewart in the Country Music Hall of Fame?
Minutemen - "Double Nickels on the Dime." Beautiful stuff, bought in anticipation of "We Jam Econo," which, God willing, will hopefully be screened somewhere in DFW before the end of the year. More later on that, but it'll happen. Anyway, the only thing I had by the Minutemen was their 20-second or so version of Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' About Love" on the SST compilation "Duck and Cover," and the time was right. This power trio's thumping bass lines and funky rhythms under the most basic and stripped-down formula make this CD a must-have, and for those who think the Minutemen did nothing to influence legions of bands in their wake, please stop now and flagellate yourself, and say twenty "Hail D. Boons." Also, SST just rules, man. They put out the "Lovedolls Superstar" soundtrack, for fuck's sake. And Lawndale and Gone. And Black Flag, whose CDs "Damaged" and "Slip It In" I really should track down, as those two were my hands-down favorites. Oh my, and remember the cover art on those Black Flag albums, especially "In My Head?" Holy phukkerooney - that shit still haunts me to this day.
All I can say is, wow. I haven't been this dazzled by an album since last year's "Live In Aught-Three" by James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards. I was seriously beginning to lose hope, too. I like the newest Razorlight a lot, and Los Super 7's "Heard It on The X" is great - and I've yet to trip on the new Foo Fighters - but there's something about this one that takes total control of me, getting me off my fat, lazy, tired ass, making me bop around and play furious, idiotic rounds of air guitar, like what you'd get if you crossed Pete Townsend with Jackie Chan. Yeah, it looks stupid and I don't give a shit. I played it for Carmen last night and she described it as 'kinetic.' She's always able to come up with the most perfect one-word descriptions.
Songwise, there are several standouts on the entire album. You couldn't ask for a better send-off than "The Fall Fashions," whose initial blast totally took me back to that first Psychedelic Furs album, for some reason. The second song, "Release the Squid (Box 6)," rises to the challenge of the first one. My other favorites so far have been "Stumble," with its twists and turns, and it's obvious that my song of the week is "Chainsaw." I can't get the damn thing out of my head. That sing-songiness of it all, the chorus - "I'm coming for you!" - punctuated with Devo-esque keyboards, pounding guitar, and lyrics that'll make you wonder, "Am I really singing along to this?" And "Alaska" delivers a great ending. It's all kick-ass, though. No doubt next week there'll be some new tracks I'll find myself playing over and over, but there's something for everyone on this CD: no shortage of infectious, kinky guitar hooks, and original, smartly-crafted wordsmith wonder, guaranteed to make you giggle like a loon. Pure pop goodness. Never a dull moment.
So if the thought of supporting your local working musicians makes you all tingly and altrusitic inside, consider adding this gem to your CD collection. If that doesn't sell you, maybe this will: just last month, The Deathray Davies played the Lebowski Fest in Louisville, Kentucky, winning a place in my heart forever.
Mark my words: they're here to steal your ever-lovin' rock and roll heart, too. And if you buy "The Kick and The Snare" now, later on you can entertain and eventually bore the grandkids with your stories of livin' and lovin' in the Summer of the Deathray, 2005.
Both Dallas and Ray Davies should be very proud, indeed.
Other albums I shouldn't have bought with dodgy credit, but did anyway:
Gary Stewart - "Out of Hand" and "Your Place Or Mine." One of those two-CDs-on-one deal, purchased from the Ernest Tubb Record Store in the Fort Worth Stockyards, where I'm sorry to say the owners were definitely not as friendly as their counterparts at the flagship store on Broadway in Nashville. Oh well. Both contain tons of songs not on "The Essential Gary Stewart," and the last song on Out of Hand is "Williamson County," the murder ballad Gary Stewart penned with his wife, Mary Lou, who according to Jimmy McDonough's Perfect Sound Forever article, was the love of Gary's life (and loved to flash her boob job at anyone who asked). God bless Gary Stewart, and Mary Lou, too. I hope Jimmy McDonough writes their story. I just read his tome on Russ Meyer and despite some initial misgivings, it does seem like he'd be the right one to bring their tumultuous, tawdy, and heartbreakingly true story to life. Maybe their surviving daughter, Shannon, will be open to the idea, or even has plans for her own version.
And why the hell isn't Gary Stewart in the Country Music Hall of Fame?
Minutemen - "Double Nickels on the Dime." Beautiful stuff, bought in anticipation of "We Jam Econo," which, God willing, will hopefully be screened somewhere in DFW before the end of the year. More later on that, but it'll happen. Anyway, the only thing I had by the Minutemen was their 20-second or so version of Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' About Love" on the SST compilation "Duck and Cover," and the time was right. This power trio's thumping bass lines and funky rhythms under the most basic and stripped-down formula make this CD a must-have, and for those who think the Minutemen did nothing to influence legions of bands in their wake, please stop now and flagellate yourself, and say twenty "Hail D. Boons." Also, SST just rules, man. They put out the "Lovedolls Superstar" soundtrack, for fuck's sake. And Lawndale and Gone. And Black Flag, whose CDs "Damaged" and "Slip It In" I really should track down, as those two were my hands-down favorites. Oh my, and remember the cover art on those Black Flag albums, especially "In My Head?" Holy phukkerooney - that shit still haunts me to this day.
posted by No, You Can't Watch at 5:55 PM
1 Comments:
the Deathray Davies, eh? They sound like my kinda thang. Will check 'em out.
'Phukkeroony' is the best word, ever, in any language.
T.
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