It’s not a great sign when the best track on an album relies heavily on a guest vocalist. Discuss…
It’s also not a great sign when the best track on an album is a cover version… of a rock standard. Discuss…
OK, now that you’re all back, I’ll argue that is somewhat of a problem with this here final album from Make Up (note ongoing subtle name changes).
The track in question is Hey Joe and it closes out the album. It is a fantastic rambling 7 minute plus version of this classic, with some luscious lead vocals by someone called Heather Worley (Google tells me nothing about her!).
Strangely, it is the most Make-Up of all the songs on the album, with some strong vocal interactions, a fierce groove, a pounding rhythm break mid-song and the appropriate level of hysterics.
Alas, the rest of the album doesn’t have that vibe. The band appears to have abandoned much of the ‘gospel yeah yeah’ sound they’d espoused on previous recordings. Instead we are left with an album that feels like a (less indulgent) Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it renders this my least played release from this combo.
File under: Save some dough and buy their other albums first
