The Forty-Fives:: High Life High Volume (Album Rev...
Jun 18, 2004 12:00 a.m. - KINGBLIND: Music, Art & Entertainment
Edit This Page The Forty-Fives:: High Life High Volume (Album Review) High Life High Volume, the third full length album by Atlanta’s Forty-Fives, takes the trials & tribulations of their first two records and their years of touring and turns them into a heat seaking missile that delivers 11 right-on-target rock songs. The target? Your ears, your feet, your ass. The Forty-Fives draw from their own formidable record collections of ’60’s rock and soul and transforms that influence into a brand of au courant rock that ought to catapult them out of the garage and on to the raceway. All the ingredients come together here - the songwriting, the performances, the production - making this effort rise more than head and shoulders above the Forty-Fives previous promising albums. If this record doesn’t bust open those close-minded so-called rock radio playlists, then something is terribly wrong in Denmark. I know a hawk from a handsaw, so let me tell you how you can separate the wheat from the chaff on June 29 when you visit your favorite record store. Simply: Buy HIGH LIFE HIGH VOLUME. The record opens and closes with soul-injected rock. Think of the MC5 with the Uptown Horns. And a little John Lennon twist to the vocals. Hard-hitting drummer Adam Renshaw has injected some swing while his rhythm counterpart, bass-man Mark McMurtry plays off that beat and provides some hip-shakin groove. If "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Stop at Nothing" don’t get you wagging your fingers at your dance partner while you sashay across that beer stained barroom floor, then you cannot be moved. There are some worthy nods to under-rated 70s Brit-rock that deserve your attention as well - "Too Many Miles" is a soulful, horn drenched ballad that could easily fit into a set by the Faces. "Bicycle Thief" is the song Ray Davies forgot to put on ’Muswell Hillbillies." As a vocalist, guitar slinger Bryan Malone can drip the honey like any British blue eyed soul-influenced rock singer and he can wink like the Kinks. He can shred like any of the Yardbirds but opts for a bluesy Rory Gallagher touch instead. Trey Tidwell plays a lot more piano on this record than B3, but its all good. They gave the Hammond its own showcase. The instrumental, "Backstage at Juanita’s" is another nod to the Faces, whose Hammond organ/Gibson guitar interplay was as iconic as anything Booker T. & the MG’s could lay down. Now the Forty-Fives wear that crown. Such fast, forward development comes through miles of touring, which the Forty-Fives do. All that playing live gives the band a chance to develop a song, and a song a chance to develop a personality. Extra Large props to all concerned for making this record at Ghetto Recorders with Jim Diamond. There’s magic in that building - just the right amount of dirty water and the right amount of brightness. Its the only place to record and he’s the only producer you need when you want to make the rock right. Do not be surprised if some of the dynamic hard driving pop of "Junkfood Heaven" or "Superpill" might happen to invade radio waves. I think this record is a contender for the next breakthrough of a band from that "garage rock" ghetto. Long live the Forty-Fives! (editor’s note: TK listened to the Forty-Fives last album for four hours straight while driving from Austin to Dallas to see them open for the Dirtbombs. She got lost and never saw the show. She did however see the Dirtbombs/Forty-Fives double bill at the venerable Echo Lounge and lived to tell.) (Review by: Ms. Theresa K.)
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