Dirty Streets - Distractions

(This review first appeared in issue #83 of Shindig! magazine.)

The Memphis trio's fifth LP unleashes a barrage of greasy blues 'n' boogie rock, big on pentatonic riffs, driving drums and floor shaking bottom end, as exemplified on the album's bookending tracks 'Loving Man' and 'Trying To Remember'. Aside from the heavy duty rock are revelatory moments where the band break out of their blues box and venture off on different tacks. 'Dream' showcases their softer, textured pop side, whereas 'Take A Walk' sees the band go all-out into wah-wah enhanced funk-rock.

'Can't Go Back' allows drummer Andrew Denham to take centre stage. Then there's the lyrical voodoo and hip-hop beats of 'Death's Creep' or 'On The Way' where vocalist/guitarist Justin Toland mixes bluesy vocals with British finger-style acoustic picking. Recorded live at the historic Sam Phillips Recording Studio in their hometown, Distractions honours the south's hard rocking musical traditions and adds a high voltage boost. Best played loud.

Big Star - Live At Lafayette's Music Room

(This review first appeared in issue #77 of Shindig! magazine.)

Omnivore CD / 2LP

This hometown set from 1973 has been released before (as disc four on the Keep An Eye On The Sky box set) but a standalone release comes newly restored and remastered, and makes its debut on vinyl. The band were supporting Archie Bell and The Drells at the same venue where four months later they'd play the legendary Memphis Rock Writers Convention.

Despite Chris Bell having recently left, the new three-piece are captured on top form. With superior sound and performances than those on the Live (at WLIR) album from the following year, it's a set worth owning for Jody Stephen's joyful drum fills alone, and contains sprightly covers of The Kinks, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Todd Rundgren and T Rex. It's also a reminder that the band were not then lauded – acoustic versions of 'Try Again' and 'Watch The Sunrise' compete with disinterested audience chatter and receive scant applause. Here's to hindsight!

Big Star - The Best Of

(This review first appeared in issue #70 of Shindig! magazine.)

Stax / Ardent CD/LP

Though commercial success evaded them in their lifespan, Big Star's influence and legacy endure. It's difficult to see who this collection is aimed at (Big Star inspiring devotion rather than casual interest), but the music remains timeless. This Best Of is released as part of Stax's 60 years retrospective campaign and draws tracks from all three of the band's studio albums. Its USP is the inclusion of rare single versions/edits including 'September Gurls' and 'Watch The Sunrise'.

Like Van Gogh's sunflowers, their studio albums are a case study in beauty, decay and fragmentation but the sequencing here favours flow over chronology. It works. From the opening guitar chime of 'In The Street' through to the soft landing of 'Thank You Friends' there's no let up in quality. Brash odes to teenage awkwardness sit easily next to ragged and frail melancholia. Argue all you like over omissions but the music here shines as brightly as ever.