Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

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.