Friday, September 17, 2004
THE MOONEY SUZUKI
Alive and Amplified
Columbia, 2004
Now we're speaking my language. This is the best record not from 1973. The Moonies crank up their amplifiers once again. They kick ass, take names, write the names down, swallow the paper and spit out confetti, make a video of it and sell it to Inside Edition. They make boys feel like men, old women feel young and turn virigns into sexual surrogates.
This time the all-out assault of their Rock comes off slightly less Who and Cream and more Grand Funk Railroad and Slade, with a bit of bubblegum influence and even a few acoustic ballads. Producing Team Of The Moment (as coronated by the rock press) The Matrix are on the mixing board. They have brought their serious pop mojo to bear upon the thick, chugging rock sleaze of TMS. Since they have worked with pop divas like Britney Spears, purists worried about them diluting the mighty power of TMS.
Not to worry, though: the boys are still as rocking as ever. However, the Matrix have added a bit of color, and as the band themselves refer to it, "kaleidoscopic depth" to the proceedings. "Primitve Condition," the opener, is a stone-age stomper. "New York Girls" leaves quite an impression as an answer song to "California Girls." "Hot Sugar" is about as bubblegum as this record gets, and it wouldn't be out of place on an album by Sweet. But my favorite, anthemic, booty-shakin', irresistable, unstoppable, groovalicious cut must be "Loose 'N Juicy." (And yes, they do spell it that way.)
While listening to this CD, I felt like I could have been enjoying an especially good episode of Top of the Pops from 1973. Glam, Pop and Hard Rock collide with garage sounds here, and we are all the better for it. The retro vibe even extends to the psychedelic cover painting, which looks to be straight off a Carlos Santana record of that period.
Any fan of hard rock sounds out of the past will find much here to groove along with. If you don't get it, then get it. BOOGIE! RATING: Life Changing
Alive and Amplified
Columbia, 2004
Now we're speaking my language. This is the best record not from 1973. The Moonies crank up their amplifiers once again. They kick ass, take names, write the names down, swallow the paper and spit out confetti, make a video of it and sell it to Inside Edition. They make boys feel like men, old women feel young and turn virigns into sexual surrogates.
This time the all-out assault of their Rock comes off slightly less Who and Cream and more Grand Funk Railroad and Slade, with a bit of bubblegum influence and even a few acoustic ballads. Producing Team Of The Moment (as coronated by the rock press) The Matrix are on the mixing board. They have brought their serious pop mojo to bear upon the thick, chugging rock sleaze of TMS. Since they have worked with pop divas like Britney Spears, purists worried about them diluting the mighty power of TMS.
Not to worry, though: the boys are still as rocking as ever. However, the Matrix have added a bit of color, and as the band themselves refer to it, "kaleidoscopic depth" to the proceedings. "Primitve Condition," the opener, is a stone-age stomper. "New York Girls" leaves quite an impression as an answer song to "California Girls." "Hot Sugar" is about as bubblegum as this record gets, and it wouldn't be out of place on an album by Sweet. But my favorite, anthemic, booty-shakin', irresistable, unstoppable, groovalicious cut must be "Loose 'N Juicy." (And yes, they do spell it that way.)
While listening to this CD, I felt like I could have been enjoying an especially good episode of Top of the Pops from 1973. Glam, Pop and Hard Rock collide with garage sounds here, and we are all the better for it. The retro vibe even extends to the psychedelic cover painting, which looks to be straight off a Carlos Santana record of that period.
Any fan of hard rock sounds out of the past will find much here to groove along with. If you don't get it, then get it. BOOGIE! RATING: Life Changing
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