Published on Aug 6, 2002
Halelujah! Rock and roll is fun again!
After a decade of angst by alternative and later rap/rock bands,
the music known as rock-and-roll has finally loosened up, what with
the surprise success of the Strokes, White Stripes and the Hives.
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with angst up to a point, but after
hearing so much alternative rock on the radio, eventually I just
wanted them to shut up already and lighten up. And now it looks
like I got my wish.
The Mooney Suzuki may not be one of the most popular or even the
most original band from this garage rock scene, but for my money,
they just may very well be the best. Their second CD is called
Electric Sweat, and that is exactly what you get for the ten
tracks here.
So what do they sound like? Well, the second track, “In A Young
Man’s Mind” gives you the answer by namechecking Jimi Hendrix, Pete
Townshend, and Jimmy Page. Add to that later garage bands like the
MC5 and Stooges, and right there you’ve got The Mooney Suzuki. The
singer, Sammy James Junior, even sounds very much like Hendrix.
Because of the vocal similarities,
Electric Sweat plays like a Hendrix album if he had
eliminated the experimentation and just made an album of scorching
rockers. So, if you love the Hendrix song, “Fire”, this CD will
probably put a smile on your face.
But to say that all the songs sound like “Fire” would be a
mistake. Yes, there are plenty of scorching rockers, but The Mooney
Suzuki do vary the tempos. “Oh Sweet Susanna” and “Natural Fact”
are midtempo rockers, and there is even a slow ballad included
called “The Broken Heart”. Hey, every party needs a slow dance,
right?
Most of the songs on
Electric Sweat are short, rocking pieces, but The Mooney
Suzuki do manage to show some instrumental chops without going
overboard. “It’s Not Easy” is one of only two songs over four
minutes, and that’s because there’s a tasty guitar break. And there
are even two instrumentals: “Electrocuted Blues” has a guitar
frenzy that would make Hendrix proud, while “It’s Showtime Pt II”
is a throwback to sixties r&b, including a nifty organ
solo.
I would have liked this CD to make at least some concession to
modern rock, but despite the stubbornly retro attitude, The Mooney
Suzuki do deliver the goods as this is a very fun listen. If you
want angst, go somewhere else. Otherwise, get this CD and make sure
to play it loud.