![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/flamin_groovies_now.jpg\")
Flamin\u2019 Groovies \u2013 <\/b>Now<\/b><\/i>\nOriginally released in 1978, this album was \u2013 intentionally or not \u2013 an exemplar of the retro-minded pub rock scene happening in the UK at the time. Post-punk in that it came after the wave of acts that included Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, it is as forward- as it is backward-looking. The group \u2013 based in San Francisco \u2013 had been around since the \u201860s, so they had a credible reason to stuff an album with covers of Paul Revere & the Raiders<\/a> (\u201cUps and Downs\u201d), Cliff Richard (\u201cMove It\u201d), the Stones (the relatively obscure \u201cBlue Turns to Grey\u201d) and the Beatles (the still-rare-in-the-US \u201cThere\u2019s a Place\u201d). But as it happens, those covers are all ace, as is the original material scattered among the covers. There are fourteen cuts total on this straight CD reissue of the original; Alec Palao pens a liner note essay.<\/p>\n
<\/a> More soon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s a quick look at five new releases. Four are reissues; the other is a compilation of previously-unreleased material. All are simply superb; essential, even. For the first time in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,51,55,58,62,64,65],"tags":[3094,1609,1622,2305],"class_list":["post-19959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-pop","category-powerpop","category-pub-rock","category-rawk","category-reissue","category-review","tag-flamin-groovies","tag-nrbq","tag-omnivore-recordings","tag-van-duren","cat-19-id","cat-51-id","cat-55-id","cat-58-id","cat-62-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19959"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20276,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19959\/revisions\/20276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/flamin_groovies_jitn.jpg\")
Flamin\u2019 Groovies \u2013 <\/b>Jumpin\u2019 in the Night<\/b><\/i>
\nFilling an album halfway with covers worked out quite well for the Flamin\u2019 Groovies on Now<\/i>, so a year later they repeated the formula with similar results. But this time around, they sometimes dug a bit deeper into their record collections for inspiration. \u201cDown Down Down\u201d was written by the Move\u2019s Trevor Burton<\/a> but first recorded by Dave Edmunds. The British guitarist had produced Now<\/i>, which may well have led to the rediscovery of that nugget. A cover of Dylan\u2019s \u201cAbsolutely Sweet Marie\u201d improves upon the original, but would pale in comparison to a later reading of the tune by Jason & the Scorchers. And the Beatles\u2019 \u201cPlease Please Me\u201d is delivered a bit too reverently. But the originals \u2013 the jangling \u201cFirst Plane Home\u201d chief among them — are where the Groovies truly shine here. Liberation Hall\u2019s 2020 reissue doesn’t offer any new or bonus tracks, but it does feature a brief essay from Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/van_duren_ays.jpg\")
Van Duren \u2013 <\/b>Are You Serious?<\/b><\/i>
\nAt this late date, I can\u2019t even recall how I first discovered this album. I’m not sure when, either, though it must have been the ’90s when I scored a bootleg copy. What I do<\/em> vividly recall is the manner in which I was completely won over by it. Duren\u2019s approach on his 1978 solo debut is to combine the best qualities of Emitt Rhodes<\/a>, Paul McCartney, Todd Rundgren<\/a> and Big Star. And I don\u2019t cite those names lightly: although Are <\/i>Y<\/i>ou Serious?<\/i> rarely rocks hard, it\u2019s a perfect balance of grit and polish. Van Duren is a superb songwriter with an angelic yet expressive voice. It\u2019s nigh on impossible to pick a \u201cbest\u201d song from this long out-of-print LP, but \u201cOh Babe\u201d is a strong contender, as are both the elegiac \u201cWaiting\u201d and the soaring \u201cGrow Yourself Up.\u201d Kudos to Omnivore Recordings for shepherding the first officially-sanctioned reissue of this landmark album. The man himself \u2013 Van Duren \u2013 wrote the liner note essay for this superb sounding set.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/van_duren_io.jpg\")
Van Duren \u2013 <\/b>Idiot Optimism<\/b><\/i>
\nIf anything, Van Duren\u2019s second album is even rarer than his debut. I\u2019ve never ever seen a vinyl copy. One might say that it shares the same \u201csound\u201d as Are You Serious?<\/i>, but the arrangements are a notch better and more finely-wrought (if that\u2019s possible). Duren seems a more assured songwriter; no sophomore slump for him. Idiot Optimism<\/i> inches closer to what one might call powerpop as well, but the songs tend to bear the hallmarks of having been written on piano rather than guitar. The sole cover, \u201cMake a Scene\u201d was written by Chris Bell<\/a>, a friend and sometime band mate of Duren\u2019s (Bell is better known as co-founder of Big Star, of course). But Duren isn\u2019t the kind of artist who needs to rely on the work of others; songs like \u201cTennessee, I\u2019m Trying\u201d have a bittersweet melancholy vibe reminiscent of Andrew Gold\u2019s best work. And the amazing \u201cAndy Please\u201d \u2013 a song I know from a Duren 1975 demo cut with Jody Stephens (finally given official release on Omnivore\u2019s soundtrack for Waiting: The Van Duren Story<\/i><\/a> \u2013 is even better than that demo. Simply essential.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/nrbq_in_frequencies.jpg\")
NRBQ \u2013 <\/b>In Frequencies<\/b><\/i>
\nThere\u2019s been a fair amount of activity in recent years from NRBQ. The group perhaps best deserving (but least likely to be called) \u201cAmerica\u2019s band\u201d remains as classifiable as ever. This odds-and-sods collection of tracks \u2013 demos, soundchecks, unreleased but finished pieces, live cuts \u2013 is simply wonderful. Is it blues? Americana? Rock and roll? Jazz? Pop? In a word, yes. The tracks here are drawn from throughout the band\u2019s history, so you\u2019ll find songs featuring Al Anderson and Johnny Spampinato alongside newer pieces. But belying its eclectic nature, In Frequencies<\/i> hangs together as a cohesive album. For those recalcitrant few who argue over whether the current \u2018Q is the \u201creal\u201d \u2018Q or not, set all that aide and listen to this album.<\/p>\n