{"id":5429,"date":"2014-03-04T05:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T10:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=5429"},"modified":"2014-03-04T05:30:03","modified_gmt":"2014-03-04T10:30:03","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-march-2014-part-two-reissues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/04\/hundred-word-reviews-march-2014-part-two-reissues\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews: Reissues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those CDs continue to pile up here at Musoscribe World Headquarters. And even after I cull the unsolicited or semi-solicited ones that don’t make the cut for coverage, I still end up with more music than I can possibly cover in the depth of detail I’d like (and that they deserve). So occasionally \u2013 and more often of late \u2013 I schedule a group of hundred-word capsule reviews in which I endeavor to hit the high points. All of these are worth your time. Toady’s batch are all reissues of older releases, several of which are somewhat rare.<\/p>\n

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\nCat Mother and the All Night Newsboys \u2013 <\/strong>Albion Doo-Wah
\n<\/strong><\/em>This little-known outfit was initially championed by no less a luminary than Jimi Hendrix<\/strong>, who produced their debut album<\/a>. This, their second, was no more successful in the marketplace, but it remains an interesting listen. From the opening track, \u201cRiff Raff\u201d onward, the band leans in a city-headed-country rock direction, with the results sounding like some cross between The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble<\/strong> and The Band<\/strong>. Some of the truly deep-fried tracks like \u201cTurkish Taffy\u201d are only partially successful, but the genre hybridization of \u201cBoonville Massacre\u201d still sounds delightfully fresh and appealing forty years later.<\/p>\n

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\nMason Williams \u2013 <\/strong>The Mason Williams Ear Show<\/strong><\/em>
\nLike the above title, this is the second of two Real Gone Music<\/a> reissues by a mostly (and unjustly) forgotten artist. Released a mere nine months after The Mason Williams Phonograph Record<\/em><\/a>, this album very much continues in a similar musical vein (how could it not?). For many artists, such a rush-release schedule wold result in an album full of half-baked, tossed-off tunes, but it would appear that Williams was a prolific composer of quality material. Like the last record, this one is full of eclectic mainstream pop Americana (though in its formal sense rather than its 21st<\/sup> century one).<\/p>\n

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\nSurf Punks \u2013 <\/strong>Locals Only<\/strong><\/em>
\nNeither the best nor the worst of its kind, this album is a reasonably successful amalgam of comedy rock and surf music. The titles tell you the story: \u201cNo Fat Chicks,\u201d \u201cBorn to Surf,\u201d \u201cSpoiled Brats from Malibu.\u201d It’s fun enough, and with the principals’ connection to Captain and Tennille<\/strong> (drummer\/composer\/producer) Dennis Dragon<\/strong> is the brother of \u201cCaptain\u201d Daryl Dragon<\/strong>) one can be all but certain that there’s a commercial appeal to these bratty tracks. And there is; it’s more revved-up garage rock (with party trappings) than anything approaching punk. A welcome dose of 80s nostalgia.<\/p>\n

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\nThe Alabama Stare Troupers \u2013 <\/strong>Road Show<\/strong><\/em>
\nA curio from the anything-goes early 1970s. An all-star (sic) lineup takes to the road \u2013 presaging Bob Dylan<\/strong>‘s Rolling Thunder Revue \u2013 and one show is documented as a tour souvenir. Don Nix<\/strong> (his Living by the Days<\/em><\/a> was also reissued) rounded up country bluesman Furry Lewis<\/strong> and vocalist Jeanie Green<\/strong> plus assorted musicians and a choir. The result 2LP didn’t sell like hotcakes. But Furry Lewis \u2013 who gets half of the first CD \u2013 is in fine form, and the full-band tracks \u2013 sounding very much like The Band<\/strong> with a choir \u2013 are soulful and enjoyable.<\/p>\n

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\nThe Lords of the New Church \u2013 <\/strong>Is Nothing Sacred?<\/strong><\/em>
\nGive this CD five seconds of your time, and you’ll say \u201c1983.\u201d But \u201cDance With Me\u201d \u2013 the most well-known track from the Gothic rock band led by former Dead Boys<\/strong> singer\/guitarist Stiv Bators<\/strong> \u2013 still sounds great. Sure, it’s more than a little reminiscent of Duran Duran<\/strong>, The Church<\/strong><\/a> and Billy Idol<\/strong>, but this foursome \u2013 with punk veterans from The Damned<\/strong>, Sham 69<\/strong> and The Barracudas<\/strong> \u2013 earned their punk\/new wave cred honestly. Two other Lords studio albums \u2013 their 1982 debut (their best) and 1984’s The Method to Our Madness<\/em> \u2013 have also gotten reissue.<\/p>\n

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Those CDs continue to pile up here at Musoscribe World Headquarters. And even after I cull the unsolicited or semi-solicited ones that don’t make the cut for coverage, I still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,50,51,59,62,64,65],"tags":[146,480,1342,1425,1796,2066,2095],"class_list":["post-5429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-americana","category-new-wave","category-pop","category-punk","category-rawk","category-reissue","category-review","tag-alabama-state-troupers","tag-cat-mother-and-the-all-night-newsboys","tag-lords-of-the-new-church","tag-mason-williams","tag-real-gone-music","tag-stiv-bators","tag-surf-punks","cat-6-id","cat-50-id","cat-51-id","cat-59-id","cat-62-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}