 |
THE WAKING HOURS
The Waking Hours (Time Bomb Records)
Reviewed by Bill Holmes
Having been blessed with not one, but TWO Mike Ness releases in 1999, I automatically made the assumption that The Waking Hours would be cut from the same cloth. And when the opening track ("Picture Show") reminded me of The Clash or Long Ryders taking on "Steppin' Stone", I figured I was on the money. But then "Dolores" follows, with its not-quite-dated 70's sound and solid vocals, and then the ballad "Work It Out" blows me away with it's Superdrag-sounding vocals and harmonies, and now I'm paying a LOT of attention…
I hesitate to corner this CD with the tag of "power pop", because The Waking Hours do many things well. Still, "I Got You" is the best Rubinoos song the Rubinoos never wrote, right down to the "ooh-ooh-oohs" on the irresistible chorus. I'd love to pay props to the little known Philadelphia band called The A's by referencing them here, but since no one but me seems to remember them, let's say "Caroline" can best be described as The Buckinghams jamming with The Beach Boys (with a rented hot-shot guitarist brought in for the session!). "Morning Sun" is rave-up pop out of the "Dizzie Miss Lizzie" school, and "Out Of My Mind" could be Oasis trying out "Jet Airliner". The band rocks, and no matter which guitarist (Tom Richards or Ricky Tubb) is singing lead, the other is usually joined by bassist Scott Richards for seamless three part Beatle harmonies. (And if this indeed were a Beatle record. "Love It Be It" would be the Harrison song)
"Don't Fade Away" is typical of the band's strength - drummer Rob Clark kickstarting the machine and driving the changes with machine-gun snare playing, creamy harmony vocals, an infectious guitar line and everybody back for the big finish (here I give bonus points for the screamed "1-2-3-4!" before the refrain). There are six songs here that should be blasting out of radios everywhere, but if you know commercial radio like I do, you'll buy this CD so you don't grow old waiting to hear them. Killer, killer record! (www.wakinghours.com)
© 2000 - Bill Holmes