Agony Shorthand |
Thursday, March 31, 2005
KING LOUIE ONE MAN BAND : "CHINESE CRAWFISH" LP/CD....I have not kept abreast of this Louisiana loon's output since his fantastic inepto-rockabilly '93 single "Jailbait/Little Girl" and a few raucous garage side projects like the PERSUADERS in the late 90s. As I understand, his main breadwinning gig is as a one-man band, in the hallowed Southern tradition of HASIL ADKINS and his inferior antecedents. Right out of the gate, thankfully, you know that KING LOUIE is for real. "She's a Big Bopper" is an absolutely manic, stuttering, teeth-spitting 50s-style howler, similar in its tear-it-up style to MORTY SHANN & THE MORTICIANS and all those early rock cats who loved to bust a gut over fat gals. Fantastic! This will kick off many "look at what I'm listening to" CD-R comps in 2005. It's only slightly less frantic from there -- his sound tightens up (a little), and for a single fella, he actually gets that swampy, voodoo Gun Club grunge sexbeat vibe going quite well. I suppose I could lose the overtly rednecky vocals, but who am I to say that's not how he sounds in the shower as well? It gets slightly annoying mid-way through, and the record goes into ballad-heavy free fall for a bit before picking back up into bonzai hollerin' around "Walkin' With The Light". Overall, it's solid. Real solid. Kids love one man bands, and now here's one that you can get involved with too!
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