I've got to admit being a little skeptical running down this list
of six for a slightly dated debut EP that's back for another run at Rock n' Roll
reverb. The vibe front out is that of a late '60s/'70s style retro-revival from
a four member band whose roots reach back to that class of belly up and bearded
Rock icons blazed in glory and blurry eyed, clothed in sunshine and fuzztones,
where in creeps the slightest hint of psychedelia offset by the folksy croon and
flanger effect. Hard to peg too many today that follow this formula and win.
Only now are there those few that jump out, scream, and set fires and get barely
enough notoriety to have their name on a t-shirt - and it's "real"
Rock n' Roll, the return, and we lay praise on mega-hipsters like The Vines,
Hives, and Hoobastank for doing the six string thing and bringing back the big
amp. And about another 500 deserving Indie rocker types burning up the empty
charts of underground cliques the world over.
Orange Beauties are of an organic variety but they're a little
too low key to do much more than turn the head of the casual listener who's shot
to hell the idea of radio play and searches high and low for the next Stooge's
outtake and Stones' reunion. These guys got the groove and make the quick fix
transition from post-modernism - "Horsey" or the vibratory
"Sugarcoated," to the Dylanesque and Young, "Happy Pill,"
and "Cemetery White," to the strung out discord of
"Medicated" and "Song For Darlene," either of which will win
'em followers of the Sub Pop culture! So where do they fit in? They don't,
unless we're aiming back to 1972 or '82 or something, and man, even then, who
knew? Only thing we know for sure is in the annals of Rock music, the lines
become increasingly blurred the further we go. Orange Beauties, okay, cool name,
think I used to sell them for a profit actually in my junior high days before
everyone else got wise to the back page fitness mag ads.
They're catchy, cool, and occasionally artsy, could stand a
bit more mid-range punch for the two or three tracks not overly numbed up by
pedal FX, and overall, it's almost like listening to old Replacements records
before and after their Sire years… and that's when we're not doing the crunchy
Monterey Pop stuff and undercover Stones' tunes. For more info get over to
www.washroomrecordings.com and get the wax out.
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