The Smithereens - The Lost Album (2022)

I was an early fan of this group, but life happens and I somewhat lost interest after the release of A Date With The Smithereens. That 1994 album was a step down in quality to my ears so I figured the band was past their prime; I promptly sold my CD. Decades later, I see this Lost Album release advertised and I just can't help myself. I've tried and tried to like it but it just doesn't do it for me. I couldn't quite figure out why and then I actually read a bit about the album's origins.

This album was recorded in 1993, during the time between the Smithereens' contracts with Capitol and RCA. After the Blow Up album in 1991, the band went into the studio and financed new sessions themselves. Even without a contract, the band reportedly cut enough material for two albums. When The Smithereens signed with RCA, roughly half of that material was selected for the aforementioned A Date with The Smithereens. The rest simply sat in the vault until it was released in 2022 as The Lost Album. In the CD's liner notes, bassist Mike Mesaros describes the album as being only about 80% finished and rough mixed. Rather than trying to reconstruct it into some artificially polished 2022 production, the band mastered what they had.

So this album is a rough mix of songs that weren't good enough to be included on an album I didn't like. And there ya go. Still dig the earlier stuff, tho.

Pat DiNizio is in fine form vocally and I hear the occasional crunchy guitar riff but that 80% mentioned above is being mighty generous. What's lacking here is some punchy production work (it's easy to imagine what Don Dixon would have done with this) that includes the band's trademark overdubs to fill out the instrumental sound and choirs on the background vocals. It's not exactly leftover, unfinished filler tracks, but it's pretty close.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: It doesn't work as an album, but there are few tracks worth hearing here, including Out Of This World, Don't Look Down, Monkey Man, and Face The World With Pride. They're just not as good as they could have been.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

2011 (2011)	11 (1989)
Meet The Smithereens! (2007)	Green Thoughts (1988)
Blown To Smithereens (1995)	Especially For You (1986)
Blow Up (1991)

State Cows - High And Dry (2022)

European import

I like State Cows. That said, all their stuff is in exactly the same vein. However, I happen to like that vein, so here we are. Speaking of the same vein, I’ll now engage in some tasteful plagiarism from a previous CDP post about the band.

Here's a little bit about the Swedish duo, taken from their website:

STATE COWS is one of very few modern yacht rock / westcoast / AOR bands that creates new original music. This project started out as a Steely Dan tribute called THE SECOND ARRANGEMENT. They soon transformed the Steely Dan tribute into the band STATE COWS and started writing an album of brand new yacht rock songs. Smooth guitar lines, half-time shuffles, funky bass lines, slick harmonies, real Fender Rhodes, tight horn sections and some California sunshine ... it's all in there!

So, yeah, it's derivative, but so very good and very smooth. Goes down easy. If you tire of the limited and questionable playlist on the yacht rock channel on SiriusXM, but still want a little Doobie Bounce in your life, this is just what the doctor ordered. The duo leans into the "yacht rock" nomenclature and musical vocabulary while creating neo-yacht music for the dad rock (or granddad rock) crowd. My only complaint is the sound is often over-produced, particularly in the odd treatment of the backing vocals.

I encourage you to sample some their stuff over at bandcamp: statecows.bandcamp.com.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: The best cuts on this one are Caught In A Landslide, Emily, Tears Of Isolation, Hold On, and When You Smile.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but the sound sure takes me back to the '80s real quick.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Closed Doors And Open Shores (2025)

Donald Byrd – Live: Cookin' With Blue Note At Montreux (2022)

MIZELL BROTHERS MONTH (APRIL 2026)

Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland, July 5, 1973. While the Mizell Brothers didn't produce this particular Byrd album, they were in the band on that date. Also in the band were four of Byrd's students who would go on to form the Blackbyrds.

From the Blue Note website:

In July 1973, Blue Note Records headed to Montreux, Switzerland to showcase several of the label’s stars at the Montreux Jazz Festival. That summer, Byrd was fresh off the release of his hit crossover fusion album Black Byrd, the first of his innovative and incredibly successful studio collaborations with producer Larry Mizell. But in a live setting the band had a rawer, harder edge, as this searing set attests. Live: Cookin’ with Blue Note at Montreux is released on what would have been the legendary trumpeter’s 90th birthday — December 9, 2022.

Even though Black Byrd had just been released, the band only plays the title track from that album here. The remainder of the album sounds like the whole band had been listening only to In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew for months because the arrangements on this live date greatly resemble those pioneered by Miles & Company a few years earlier. Not as slick as the Byrd/Mizell studio albums and the rougher live edge is just gritty enough to enjoy. I dig the whole album and am hypnotized into a fusion trance while listening. I'd love to read a first-hand account of what that show was like. Other performers at the festival that night included Alphonse Mouzon, Bobbi Humphrey, Bobby Hutcherson, Marlena Shaw, and Ronnie Foster. What a line up!

CD liner notes from Larry Mizell and Don Was, the president of Blue Note Records.

Byrd – trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals
Fonce Mizell – trumpet, vocals
Allan Barnes – tenor saxophone, flute
Nathan Davis – tenor and soprano saxophone
Kevin Toney – electric piano
Larry Mizell – synthesizers
Barney Perry – electric guitar
Henry Franklin – electric bass
Keith Killgo – drums and vocals
Ray Armando – congas and percussion

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: The album kicks off with the funky Black Byrd, followed by a stellar cover of Stevie Wonder's You've Got It Bad Girl, then three otherwise unrecorded Byrd originals: The East, Kwame, and Poco-Mania. Kwame has an annoying start with some unnecessarily strident synth sounds, but eventually settles into a more relaxed groove. As with the Miles Davis albums mentioned above, just hit the play button and let it cook. 

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

Love Byrd (1981)	Street Lady (1974)
Caricatures (1976)	Black Byrd (1973)
Stepping Into Tomorrow (1975)	A New Perspective (1964)

Young Gun Silver Fox - Ticket To Shangri-La (2022)

Andy Platts is a one-man retro revival and as I get older, his types of tracks scratch me right where I itch. With his band Mamas Gun, he explores the funky R&B side of the late '70s/early '80s and when he teams up with Shawn Lee in Young Gun Silver Fox, he turns his focus to more poppish Top 40 sounds. And there's plenty of that stuff to go around here during this 40 minutes of music that takes me back to summers of my youth in a big hurry. As I've written before about another of the duo's albums: "if you were in junior high school and/or high school in the late '70s/early '80s and enjoyed the pop music of McDonald, Loggins, and H&O around that time, then just spin this thing and float away." I'm also picking up some Stevie Wonder and Todd Rundgren influences on this album, along with, of course, Steely Dan.

The album's press release states that Ticket To Shangri-La

showcases a band at the very top of their game, fine-tuning their potent brew of sun-kissed pop-soul, west coast AOR and natural groove with a skill for composition and production that sees them forging ahead down a musical highway blessed with blue skies and positive vibrations.

And that properly sums it up. Recommended.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: All ten tracks are fantastic, but my top picks are Still Got It Goin' On, Rolling Back, Simple Imagination, Winners, and Starting Wars.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I ordered this CD via Bandcamp upon its release last fall and when it came, I was pleasantly surprised to find the duo had autographed the cover. Love that sorta stuff around here.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Canyons (2020)
AM Waves (2018)

The Beatles - Revolver (2022 Special Edition)

Having easily earned a permanent spot on the short list of my all-time favorite albums, Revolver was one of the first LPs I replaced with a CD back in the late '80s. I took a pass on the purchase of the 2009 remaster but simply couldn't resist picking up the 29 track, double disc "Special Edition Deluxe" set in order to hear the new stereo mix by Giles Martin. I was very impressed with what Giles did with Abbey Road a few years back, so I had high hopes with this purchase.

If you're looking for my earlier thoughts on the album plus the usual ads, CD longbox picture, album reviews, chart data, etc., please check out my 2013 post here: The CD Project: Revolver. This post will primarily deal with the new mixes, bonus tracks, and packaging.

I listened once through using my Klipsch speakers then again on headphones (recommended) and lawdy this stereo mix sounds fan-effin'-tastic. Have mercy! My wife and neighbors should probably go ahead and thank me because these tunes may be all they hear for the next week or more.

The individual parts are cleaner, separated, much easier to delineate. Back in 1966, the album was recorded on 1" 4-track tape and first mixed to mono; the stereo mix was an afterthought, which is one reason why many fans prefer those earlier mono versions:

There is an intensity to mono because it was mixed to blast straight into you from that one speaker. By contrast, the stereo separation diffuses the atmosphere in some songs and distracts in others.

So this new mix not only benefits from technological advances, but also from a deliberate, concerted effort to produce the best stereo mix available. Now these cuts can "blast straight into you" in lively, rich stereo. It's a revelation to these ears even though they've heard these songs hundreds of times over the past decades. I mean it as a compliment when I say that I don't notice anything in particular about the demixes/remixes here, just that these familiar songs now sound even better.

If you grew up with the mono mix and prefer that sound, then by all means keep listening to it. It's not going anywhere. But if, like me, you grew up spinning an inferior stereo mix (first on vinyl then the original 1987 CD release), get thee to a music store post haste and buy this edition of Revolver in one or more of the many different packages available.

The 40 page booklet that came with the 2 CD set includes a foreword from Sir Paul McCartney ("All in all, not a bad album."), introductory comments from Giles Martin, an essay by Beatles historian/former BBC radio producer Kevin Howlett, a track-by-track breakdown, and lots of photos. Good stuff and all welcome in this house.

Tracks: While all tracks benefit from the remixes to varying degrees, my favorite new mixes are I'm Only Sleeping, Here There And Everywhere, She Said She Said, Good Day Sunshine, For No One, Got To Get You Into My Life, and Tomorrow Never Knows.

Bonus tracks: The second disc starts off with new mixes of Paperback Writer, a mid-1966 non-album #1 single, and its b-side Rain. A fitting inclusion in this set and both sound spectacular, just like the first disc. The remaining 13 tracks are Revolver recording session studio outtakes labeled as "Sessions Highlights." Much like the archived takes on the Anthology CD series from the mid-'90s, these are interesting to hear only once or twice. Likewise, I enjoy reading Hemingway, but I don't see much need in reading his unedited first drafts. Still, I'm glad I got the 2 disc set, if only for Paperback Writer and Rain.

Fingers crossed that Rubber Soul is next on Giles's to-do list.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but I was brought into this world amidst the same global creative energy that gave us this masterpiece so I'm going to claim some lifelong positive vibes based on that (seemingly?) random coincidence. In fact, according to the Beatles Bible and confirmed in the liner notes, the Beatles were at the Abbey Road studios working on Good Day Sunshine on the day of my birth. And in the issues dated two days after my birthday, the aforementioned Paperback Writer debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 at #28, #50 in CashBox, and #40 in Record World. Sounds like a splendid week.

Previously revisited for the blog:

Love (2006)	Abbey Road (1969) & (2019)
Let It Be... Naked (2003)	The Beatles (1968)
Anthology 2 (1996)	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Anthology 1 (1995)	Revolver (1966)
Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1977)	Rubber Soul (1965)
1967-1970 (1973)	Help! (1965)
1962-1966 (1973)	A Hard Day's Night (1964)
	Please Please Me (1963)

Chris Standring - Simple Things (2022)

Following a heart attack in March 2021, British-born, L.A.-based guitarist and composer Chris Standring bounces back nicely with this release. A pleasant blend of instrumental smooth jazz over funk-lite grooves with some interesting arrangement/timbre/production choices - in other words, a typical effort from Standring that's right up my alley. This stuff never fails to make me feel good and we could all use more feel-good these days.

More on the album and samples available on Standring's website: chrisstandring.com.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Shadow Of A Doubt (#13 Billboard Jazz Airplay chart) and Change the World (#1 on same chart) are my top picks. Also good are the ballad A Thousand Words (For Samantha) and the funky Ain't Nothin' But A Thing.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Real Life (2020)

Various Artists - Now That's What I Call 12" 70s (2022)

EU Import

Over 5 hours of music across 4 discs.

When I think of 12" singles, I usually associate them with the decade of the '80s, but this beautiful, sexy, dance-tastic 4 CD set of extended disco mixes recently arrived in my mailbox with an implied message: "You can stick that revisionist history where the sun don't shine. Educate yourself, son! They've been around since '74!" Includes two of my all-time favorite disco tunes, Don't Leave Me This Way and If I Can't Have You, closely followed by Love Hangover and whatever cuts Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were involved with.

Click on the thumbnail below for a brief history of the legendary Tom Moulton inventing both the disco mix and the 12" single, excerpted from the highly recommended book by Will Hermes, Love Goes To Buildings On Fire, heavily citing Love Saves The Day by Tim Lawrence.

Tracks: The first two discs are quite good, but things really get cookin' on discs 3 & 4.

CD 1 (76:41)
Artist	Song	Year	Time	Dance
Elton John	Are You Ready For Love (Extended Version)	1979	8:31	-
Wings	Goodnight Tonight (Long Version)	1979	7:16	-
Cliff Richard	We Don't Talk Anymore (12" Mix)	1979	6:58	-
Blondie	Heart Of Glass (12" Version)	1979	5:48	58
Roxy Music	Angel Eyes (Extended Remix)	1979	6:37	-
Japan	Life In Tokyo (12" Extended Version)	1979	7:05	-
M	Pop Muzik (Nik Launay '79 12")	1979	4:54	4
The Flying Lizards	Money (12" Version)	1979	6:05	22
Lene Lovich	Lucky Number (Slavic Dance Version)	1979	4:32	-
Public Image Limited	Death Disco (12" Remix)	1979	6:42	-
Ian Dury & The Blockheads	Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (12" Version)	1978	5:22	79
The B-52's	Rock Lobster (Album Version)	1978	6:49	24

CD 2 (76:11)
Artist	Song	Year	Time	Dance
Sparks	Beat The Clock (Long Version)	1979	6:41	-
Cerrone	Supernature (Extended)	1977	9:44	1
Voyage	From East To West (Extended Version)	1978	5:54	1
Sheila & B Devotion	Spacer (A Tom Moulton Mix)	1980	9:55	44
The Three Degrees	The Runner (Long Version)	1979	8:15	56
Leif Garrett	I Was Made For Dancin' (12" Version)	1978	6:53	-
Boney M.	Rivers Of Babylon (12" Version)	1978	7:24	-
Eruption	I Can't Stand The Rain (Extended Version)	1978	6:26	6
Dee D. Jackson	Automatic Lover (Extended Version)	1978	7:19	-
Meco	Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band (DJ Promo-Only Version)	1977	7:34	6

CD 3 (75:47)
Artist	Song	Year	Time	Dance
Earth, Wind & Fire With The Emotions	Boogie Wonderland (12" Version)	1979	8:17	14
McFadden & Whitehead	Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (12" Version)	1979	10:39	10
Heatwave	Boogie Nights (Special Disco Version)	1977	5:02	36
Odyssey	Native New Yorker (12" Disco Mix)	1977	5:33	3
Yvonne Elliman	If I Can't Have You (Extended Version)	1977	4:00	-
A Taste Of Honey	Boogie Oogie Oogie (Album Version)	1978	5:31	1
Dan Hartman	Relight My Fire (12" Disco Remix)	1979	6:46	1
Grace Jones	I Need A Man (12" Version)	1977	7:35	1
Dennis Parker	Like An Eagle (12" Version)	1979	8:35	47
Andrea True Connection	More, More, More (12" Version)	1976	6:15	2
Cher	Take Me Home (12" Version)	1979	7:30	2

CD 4 (78:14)
Artist	Song	Year	Time	Dance
Donna Summer	MacArthur Park Suite (DJ Promo 12" Version)	1978	17:36	1
The Trammps	Disco Inferno (Extended Version)	1976	10:54	1
Chic	Everybody Dance (12" Mix)	1978	8:27	1
Amii Stewart	Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven (Long Version)	1979	8:23	-
Frantique	Strut Your Funky Stuff (12" Version)	1979	5:44	-
Vicki Sue Robinson	Turn The Beat Around (Extended Version)	1976	5:34	1
Diana Ross	Love Hangover (12" Version)	1976	7:49	1
Gloria Gaynor	I Will Survive (Original 12" Version)	1978	8:02	1
Thelma Houston	Don't Leave Me This Way (12" Version)	1976	5:42	1

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Lots of polyester-infused disco dancing memories from my junior high days. You think your humble blogger at age 13 wasn't a disco dancin' fool?!? Fuhgeddaboudit. Step aside, Tony Manero. The only song I remember from the 8th grade dance at which the below photo was taken is Last Dance by Donna Summer, which was, of course, the last song played that evening.

May 16, 1980

Monkey House - Remember The Audio (2022)

Monkey House make pop for people who aren’t afraid of jazz, and vice-versa.

When we went into lockdown in March 2020, I read several articles about how hard times produces great art and that gave me a glimmer of hope during some trying months. Last year, we were treated to Silk Sonic and the new-to-me retro stylings of Tom Shotton. So far this year, this CDP blog has already checked out new releases from Keb' Mo' and Mamas Gun with albums from State Cows and Chris Standring appearing in this space soon. And now add Remember The Audio to that list. Turns out those aforementioned articles were correct. Some great art is starting to emerge.

Remember The Audio is pretty close to a doomsday album and I think the lyrics underscore feelings many of us had during the pandemic, particularly in mid-to-late 2020. It seems band leader/songwriter/vocalist/keyboardist Don Breithaupt handled the pandemic isolation much better than me (I will neither confirm nor deny that I may have spent many daze during the pandemic curled in the fetal position while softly weeping before opening the bar at half-past The Price Is Right.) Lyrics aside, this album is a conglomeration of great melodies, complex harmonies, fantastic arrangements, and perfectly chosen guest artists. Most importantly, while my go-to comparison for this band has always been Steely Dan, I believe this is the album where Monkey House have fully realized their very own unique sound. About a year ago, Breithaupt told me Remember The Audio would be the band's best album yet and dude was right.

The album isn't on Metacritic, but here's some positive blurbs from other media:

 
Tracks:

1. The Future Is Almost Gone - That song title sets the tone for a post-apocalyptic album, doesn't it? However, it's a peppy shuffle that belies the almost apocalyptic lyrics: "Zero chance for a happy ending" - yikes! Fantastic guitar solo from Drew Zingg, who seems to be channeling Larry Carlton here.
2. Remember The Audio - Lyrically, my favorite cut on the album. A nostalgic look back at listening to pop/rock/soul music on the car's AM radio. As I've written many times, I'm not much for lyrics, nevertheless I can't help but follow along here. Lots of namechecking and '60s and '70s lyrical allusions which leads to some great rhyming couplets, e.g. "Stagger Lee/Booker T." Over 80% of posts on this blog deal with music from the previous century so this place is a nostalgia site in all but name. And this cut could easily be our theme song. It's also got the chorus hook that sticks in my brain for hours after hearing it. More good stuff from Zingg, too.
3. New York Owes You Nothing - Musically, my favorite cut on the album. A beautiful ballad that begins with solo piano and slowly builds from there. Nice muted trumpet work throughout from Michael Leonhart.
4. We Will Meet Again - This thing begins with an infectious eighth-note piano lick and is that a güiro? First time I heard the organ and handclaps on the chorus, I thought this was a great late '70s tribute tune and about that time Vern Dorge rips into a couple of sax solos just like David Sanborn used to back then and what a perfect fit.
5. Skin In The Game - white-boy funk via a New Orleans filter. I'm reminded of Harry Connick, Jr's '90s output. (Ok, ok - I'll stop with the comparisons with other artists after I said the band had its own sound.) Trombonist Chris Butcher just nails it.
6. Before You And After - This is the most Steely Dan-ish track on the album. (See what I did there? I said I'd stop with the comparisons and I just couldn't do it.) I love how our forlorn narrator goes from reminding the ex that there were "dreams, champagne, sunshine and rain" to "you're a maritime disaster" in a matter of seconds. 
7. Major Minor - This relaxed half-time shuffle moves along smoothly from the get-go but the hook in the chorus is what it's all about. There's some clever "major minor" word play here plus a little bonus cleverness if you have a basic understanding of music theory. 
8. Last Days of Pompeii - A bluesy allegory with a trumpet solo from Randy Brecker. If you're in a good headspace, the lyrics are humorous. If you're not, carry on with your doomsday prep. 
9. Do Whatcha Gonna Do - a pop song in the traditional sense with a great bridge followed by a sax solo from John Johnson from the legendary Boss Brass.
10. Let Jenny Be Jenny - I dig the Rhodes part, the syncopated chorus and the Chicago-esque horns (dadgummit, I just can't help myself). Parents can relate to the lyrics - tale as old as time.
11. Ever Since The World Ended - a great cover of a 1987 Mose Allison tune. Most of it is humorously timely and unfortunately appropriate today, but in typical Moses style, he ends the tune optimistically. Perfect ending to a great album. Note to self: pull out your old Mose Allison vinyl and spin it.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

Friday (2019)
Left (2016)
Big Money: Singles, Remasters, Rarities, 1992-2005 (2005)

Also:
Just Passing Through: The Breithaupt Brothers Songbook, Vol. II (2014)

Keb' Mo' - Good To Be... (2022)

Leave it to Keb' Mo' to record a feel-good album during a pandemic. God bless him for that - these days, I'll take ebullience and optimism wherever I can get it. But I'll be honest, I didn't care much for this album initially and usually bailed by track 7, an uninspired cover of Lean On Me. But I stuck with it over the past few months and now enjoy parts of it. Metacritic has it ranked at a 67 and that's about right. I would like more blues and less country, but that's just not where Keb' is these days. So while this isn't the best album he's put out, there's some quality tunes to be found, nonetheless.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Top Album Sales: #55
• Billboard Top Current Album Sales: #31
• Billboard Heatseekers Albums: #11

Tracks: The album certainly starts strong with the first three tracks: Good To Be (Home Again), So Easy, and Sunny And Warm. Also good are Marvelous To Me, All Dressed Up (the bluesiest track on the album), The second tier of tunes includes Like Love and '62 Chevy.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but should Keb' ever make his way to San Antonio, I'll be at his show. Hell, I might even drive up to Austin.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Moonlight, Mistletoe & You (2019)
Live: That Hot Pink Blues Album (2016)
Live And Mo' (2009)
Suitcase (2006)
Peace...Back by Popular Demand (2004)
Keep It Simple (2004)
Just Like You (1996)
Keb' Mo' (1994)

Wet Leg (2022)

I'll grant you that the British indie scene isn't usually on my radar, but when this duo released this album earlier this year, the recommendations flooding my social media timelines were too great to ignore. So I streamed the thing, thinking like Roger Murtaugh, "I'm too old for this shit" and figured I'd make it through one, maybe two, tracks. Fast forward a half hour and I'm having a great time, I've hit the repeat button, plus the CD was ordered. I was so excited I even went to my own social media feeds on April 9 of this year and declared "We’re not even halfway through spring and I’m ready to declare the Wet Leg release the top-down-volume-up album of the summer."

And it turns out my statement was something of a self-fulfilling prophecy because the CD hasn't left my truck's player since April. I know nothing about the group and couldn't even tell you how many tracks are on the disc, but I can tell you that this thing is a perfect album to play loudly as you head to the car wash or venture out to pick up some tacos.

There's hooks a'plenty and the lyrics are consistently sophomoric, profane, and hilarious. By the time they sing "I went to school and I got the big D" and asking me if they should assign someone to butter my muffin or worry my mother, I'm laughing so loudly the people in the car next to mine at the stoplight think there's something wrong with me. And when they let loose with their "longest and loudest scream" I'm right there, too, openly venting my frustration and teenaged middle-aged angst.

Metacritic has it rated at 87, which currently places it as the #13 Best Album of 2022. Will I listen to it after Labor Day? Will I get it out again next year? Probably not, but it sure has been fun to have it along for the ride(s) this summer. The DIY attitude, raunchy lyrics, and irresistible minimalist punk-pop make me feel like young and that's probably the main reason I like the album - I listen to it and suddenly I'm a teenager again, riding around in the Markmobile with the windows down, stereo blaring, feeling indestructible, thinking about girls, ignoring adults, and not thinking about the future.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #14
• Billboard Independent: #3
• Billboard Alternative: #3
• Billboard Rock: #3

Tracks: Just discovered there are a dozen tracks on the album. As you can guess, I listen to the whole thing on repeat, but my preferred tracks are Being In Love, Chaise Longue, the raucous Angelica, Wet Dream (which got me to rewatch the movie Buffalo 66), Ur Mum, and Oh No.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above. I notice the band is in town at the Aztec Theatre next month. Not sure I'm feeling that young, but you never know.

The Krayolas - Happy Go Lucky (2022)

"Rock & Soul in Technicolor"

This gem of a CD arrived in my mailbox this week and I haven't listened to much else so I figured I'd go ahead and throw together a post about the thing. It's a restored, reassembled, remastered, rejiggered, repackaged, reissue of the 1982 debut album from the San Antonio garage band known as "The Tex-Mex Beatles." As band leader Hector Saldana explains:

"Happy Go Lucky" is the 21st century edition of The Krayolas' 1982 debut album. It features new mixes for everything, new color photos, a new title, extra songs, liner notes, a bonus track. It is not a straight-up reissue. Think of it like the differences between the American and British album of the early Beatles with different track listings. "Happy Go Lucky" is closer to the original planning, rehearsals and vision. It includes 8 of the 10 songs from the original 1982 album.

I never thought it would ever see the light of day or be preserved and properly mixed. The multitrack tapes didn't exist as far as we knew. They surfaced in Houston after Savage Young Krayolas came out. I do think that the music holds up because it was made with a lot of love and fun in our hearts -- and it definitely lives up to its new title, "Happy Go Lucky."

Trouser Press wrote that the 1982 debut LP was...

an impressive start for this Mexican-American pop group from San Antonio, Texas; their music has a joyous, unpretentious quality that makes every cut a treat. Basing their sound on the ’60s — there are traces of Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Box Tops, Monkees and, of course, the Beatles — the Krayolas stood apart from others sharing the basic pop impulse by using brass on seven of the album’s ten tracks. The horns never get in the way, but instead add a soulful edge to the sweet innocent voices. A consistently pleasing album.

And if only they'd heard these new mixes. I have a vinyl copy of the aforementioned 1982 debut album so I was already in love with these tracks, but lemme tell ya: the new mixes sound fantastic, especially the vocals and the West Side Horns. Great tunes with lots of hooks and energy. They call it "bubblegum soul" but I'd call it lively power pop as run through both '60s and '80s British Invasions via the Texas rock tradition of Sam the Sham, the Sir Douglas Quintet, and other San Antonio garage band legends.

And dig these crazy duds:

Photo shoot February 13, 1982. From left: Barry Smith, David Saldana, Hector Saldana, John Harris. After the photo session, the band played a Valentine party gig and sang the songs from their newly recorded debut album onstage for the first time.
Photo credit: Bill Daras. Copyright 2022 Box Records Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

So just weeks after recording this album on January 4-6, 1982, the band could be found playing live in Houston:

The Krayolas singing “Happy Go Lucky” for the first time onstage at a Houston gig on February 13, 1982. The previously unpublished photo shows Barry Smith on combo organ (left), drummer David Saldana singing lead out front, John Harris on drums and guitarist Hector Saldana.
Photo credit: Bill Daras. Copyright 2022 Box Records Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

I was only 15 years old at the time, had no way to travel the 80 miles from my house to the historic venue, and had no date for Valentine's Day, but I feel confident in saying I would have loved the show. Saldana recalls the "party got pretty wild and was raided by Houston police." Good times, indeed.

Flyer for the 2nd annual St. Valentine’s Massacre-ade Ball and Birthday Blowout at the Magnolia Room in downtown Houston on February 13, 1982.
Photo credit: Courtesy Bill Summersett. Copyright 2022 Box Records Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

I encourage you to get over to thekrayolas.bandcamp.com, check out some tunes, and spend some money. You won't be disappointed.

Tracks: This new release has 12 tracks compared to the original album's 10. My top picks are Happy Go Lucky (which includes a tasty sax solo from Louie Bustos), the energetic rocker All Of The Time, the beautiful chord progressions and Brian Wilson-esque harmonies of Don't Give Up Hope, and the unabashedly hook-laden pop of You're Not My Girl.

The 1982 album remakes of Aw Tonight and Cry Cry, Laugh Laugh are not included on this release and were left on the cutting room floor. Cry Cry, Laugh Laugh is one of my favorite Krayolas tunes, so I'm a little disappointed in its absence, but I've got other recordings of that track. In the place of those two cuts are two songs written for the 1982 album: a mid-tempo love tune, Love Is Gonna Getcha, and the decidedly New Wave-ish penultimate track, Dorothy. Track 6, Al Coda No. 1, is a fantastically fun mash-up of other tunes created as a tribute to the horn arrangements of trumpeter Charlie McBurney, the leader of the original West Side Horns.

Track 12, We the People, is a folk-pop bonus track inspired by Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and closes the album on an uplifting message that's still relevant today.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: More on my introduction to The Krayolas and their music can be found in this previous post. In 1982, my knowledge of local garage bands was very limited to select Houston bands such as The Judy's and The Dishes; I missed out on this good stuff back then but I'm glad it finally found me.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Savage Young Krayolas (2020)
Best Riffs Only (2007)

Mamas Gun - Cure The Jones (2022)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists would live stream performances from their living rooms/basements/bedrooms. The ones that I dropped in on never did much for me, save for one: Mamas Gun. These guys sounded fantastic live, looked like they were having a blast, and didn't charge me anything for the experience. One of the few musical highlights of early 2020 for me, along with discovering a wonderful Brenda Russell album.

Always considered a retro-70's band, Mamas Gun really skews towards the soul end of the spectrum on this release. Lots of characteristic, rich, thick backing vocals harmonies (see track 5, Reconsider) and familiar soul tropes. For example, if track 7, Friends To Lovers, doesn't remind you of Al Green's Love And Happiness, I suggest you spend more time with the Rev. Green. No dance tracks here - this is all about the mid-tempo love songs and introspective ballads. In a previous post about the group, I wrote "It's odd how an album of new music can immediately take you back 40+ years to the hot summer days of youth, but somehow they done did it" and that holds true again here. Simply put, if you like Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, and the groups like the ones mentioned below, there's most likely something on this album for you.

Those are my brief thoughts, let's see how the (presumably) paid professionals do it:

"Listeners who appreciate undiluted soul music with meaningful words are advised to set aside 45 minutes in their schedules, lay back, and enjoy this sonic cure for the jones" - Soul Tracks

"Cure the Jones is a supreme alignment of intent and execution. Its song are not accidentally poignant. Its exquisite craftsmanship happens by design." - Nevermind

"Plenty of commentators are already tipping ‘Cure The Jones’ to be nominated as one of 2022’s best albums… we won’t argue." (5 out of 5) - Soul and Jazz and Funk

"On this new album they discover the soul of the early seventies with many of these new songs here having the soulfulness of The Stylistics and The Delfonics mixed with the eighties pop of Hall and Oates." - Chimeo

"arguably their best work yet." - Jazz Revelations

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Videos were produced for Party For One and Good Love, both good tracks with so-so videos. The best track may be Looking For Moses or When You Stole The Sun From The Sky. I can't say I like what how the electric piano pitch is manipulated at the beginning of the title track, but the second half of the song is good once you get past that nonsense. Track 9, You're Too Hip (For Me Baby), has '50s doo-wop vocals over a rudimentary synth drum part and somehow that dichotomy works.

So get over to the group's Bandcamp site and get you a copy of the signed CD:

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Golden Days (2018)