THE FORTY FIVES
Get It Together (Ng/Aretemis)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

---

There's a dirty little secret that evades the notice of most so-called garage rock bands--in order to write and play music that sounds like anybody could do it, you have to be so good that hardly anybody can. If you aren't quite that good, you might be able to carve out a local club niche as a cover band, but a really good album of original garage rock is one of the rarest commodities in the music marketplace.

Get It Together is a really good album of original garage rock. The Forty Fives are a classic garage quartet (guitar, organ, bass & drums) with a handful of songs that could have been slipped into the Nuggets compilation (the 60's garage rock grail) and sold as the real deal. They stick close to the formula, with noisy pop rock, a dash of novelty, a little spacey pseudo-psychedelia, and a hell of a lot of fun. Guitarist Bryan G. Malone's lead vocals have the exact tone and degree of snotty sneer that the music calls for, and organist Trey Tidwell has a Leslie speaker and he's not afraid to use it. Mark McMurtry (bass) and Adam Renshaw (drums) lay down the big beat with just enough finesse to sound like there's no finesse to it at all.

If you're finding that there's just not enough roll in your rock these days, these guys deliver a double shot of what you've been looking for.

Track List: Get Out * Without Love * More Than Ever * Drive All Night * Undercover Man * Drinkin' With No. 3 * King Of Mexico * Get It Together * All Now * Anytime At All * Ain't That Lovin' You * Don't Wanna Be The One * When You Least Expect It

© 2000 - Shaun Dale