|
Grandpaboy - Dead Man Shake |
|
|
04 August 2005 |
Grandpaboy Dead Man Shake - (Fat Possum) At last, a very important member of the music-loving community has a CD that they can call their own. Who am I talking about? I'm talking about that weird guy that staggers into a bar, strolls right up in front of the band and starts shimmying and shaking while everyone else is still too cool to go beyond nodding. Of course, this person is grinning and smiling at the audience as much as at the band. They even shout along with a song or two - to the point where you can hear people mumbling, "Why the hell doesn't that guy sit down! He's ruining it for everybody!". This guy's usually a little bit older than everybody else, and they sure seem happier too. Paul Westerberg, under the Grandpaboy moniker, knows that this guys like the blues - both the "good time" and "low down" variety - with a little bit of country thrown in there - and that's exactly what Dead Man Shake is all about. When you take into account the dabbling that Westerberg and The Replacements have done in the genre previously - the great b-sides "Election Day" and "Hey, Good Lookin'" come to mind - it makes perfect sense. In fact, it almost sounds like we've heard songs like classic blooze of "MPLS" and the hip-shaking of "Cleaning House" before. Actually, there is plenty on Dead Man Shake that we've heard before by way of covers, like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and "What Kind Of Fool Am I?". Both are given the treatment that the rest of Dead Man Shake gets - lo-fi quality, sloppy guitars, and what sounds like a whole set of first-takes. If Grandpaboy is about immediacy (and I think that's exactly what the moniker's about) then there's plenty of it here. Let's also not forget the great version of John Prine's "Souvenirs" as well. Like the previous release Mono (released on its own in a limited edition, and later included with Stereo as a bonus), down-n-dirty is Westerberg's mission here and he's remarkably well-suited to it. Whether delivering the front-porch guitar-only testimonials in "Do Right In Your Eyes" and "O.D. Blues" or using the full band to provide a swingin' good time on the title track, Westerberg sounds like he's at home here. So am I. I think I'm turning into that dancin' guy. So when I'm up there by myself and blocking your view, don't look for anything from me other than a smile that'll hopefully say, "Sorry, I ain't sittin' down or gettin' outta the way for nooooobody (hic)."
7.8
|
