The Mooney Suzuki
Electric Sweat
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The Mooney Suzuki
Electric Sweat
Gammon, 2002
RiYL: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, MC5, The White Stripes |
The Mooney Suzuki, named after two members of the influential kraut-rock group Can, likewise think they are pretty damn radical. From their press photos, one could gather that these boys have taken from the school of Velvet Underground cool as far as dress is concerned. Replete with black leather, black jeans, and black shades, these kids are ready for fame. In just about every picture, you've got a guy doing the rock splits, kicking out so much attitude you'd swear he would be ready to sex you up right then and there. With all of this character and charm, they had best be able to back it up with some decent rock, and for the record, they most certainly do.
Last year's People Get Ready was an amazing debut from the boys in leather, and proved to be a wonderful fusion of punk ethos and dirty garage rock sound that worked its audience into a dancing frenzy. You could throw the LP on any time of the day and make a party like no one's business with just a few simple guitar hooks, a thundering bass line, and tight disco drumming. With Electric Sweat, the band brings more of that goodness to the table, this time with more style than a Barbizon School For Modeling.
Electric Sweat was recorded in the birthplace of dirty rock and roll: Detroit. Jim Diamond (a member of the soul-punk outfit the Dirtbombs) has brought a gritty recording aesthetic to the group that has improved its sound. The album was laid down at Ghetto Recorders, which has played host to the creation of albums by the similarly minded White Stripes, Jon Spencer Blues Exposion, and the Come Ons. Soaking up the atmosphere of the motor city, Electric Sweat proves an infectious collection of grooves that proudly utilizes the traditional vocabulary of rock and roll.
The title track opens the record up with a guitar line courtesy of Graham Tyler's axe (rumor has it, the guitar was fashioned out of a piece of wood from the bar top of the Old Absinthe House in New Orleans) that could be straight off of Exile On Main Street. This track sets the pace for the rest of the record, lyrically and musically. "Get ready / Get set / What you get is Electric Sweat" sums up the energy and the simplicity exhibited throughout.
Electric Sweat isn't entirely a product of New York and Detroit rock influences though. The older British invasion sounds of the Who and the Yardbirds sneak into the mix here and there. And the intro to "Oh Sweet Susanna" is a bluesy, acoustic guitar rant leading into a laid-back southern rock groove that would make Muddy Waters grin from ear to ear. The album's swagger factor reaches its peek during "Natural Fact," the song's foot-stompin' chorus bringing me back to the days of spring-time flings with lines such as "Mother Nature leave me be / desire off my back / all this feeling killing me / I need you girl before I crack."
Mooney Suzuki, like other NYC powerhouses, pulls from all the right touchstones of rock history to fuse a very cool, danceable sound. What separates the Mooney Suzuki from the rest of the pack is the boundless energy on which the band thrives. Fortunately for them, their record truly captures their sound and vibe live, which makes this album so damn danceable.
JEN APPEL |