Reviews – Page 89 – 7th Level Music

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana

Named after a yellow guitar that looks a bit like a Gibson Flying V but is built to play microtones, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s first album – of five – of 2017, Flying Microtonal Banana, is another wild mind trip from the Australian psychedelic workhorses.

Beginning with the sound of wind across the desert, “Rattlesnake” is over seven minutes of toe-tapping, head-nodding, mind-altering psychedelia. The beat is venomous and the microtonal guitar work in the last third of it is great. It flows straight into “Melting” (a song about the damage we’re doing to the environment), which your mind might already be doing by this point. The dual drumming is hypnotic, as is the bass line, organ, and the near-lounge jazz sound of the whole track. The sound of ocean waves keeps you drifting on “Open Water,” and the surf guitar certainly helps. Could it be another environmental warning about all of us living in a water world after the ice caps melt (as mentioned in the previous track)? The microtonal guitars on it are like something you’d hear in a Marrakesh bazaar.

“Sleep Drifter” almost sounds like a slower version of “Rattlesnake” at first, but it’s about sleeping and dreaming with a loved one instead of a song about a wise animal / Midgard serpent. The track gets into a sweet rock groove by the end (love the harmonica and that porn guitar!). “Billabong Valley” is another microtonal freak-out as we hear about an outlaw who enters the mystic valley and is “shot in the back by mornin’.” “Anoxia” gets us back to the environmental themes of the record (The album cover features a man in a haz-mat suit and a snake emerging from a biohazard waste barrel.). The double drums almost play lead on it.

Don’t worry if the previous couple tracks didn’t have enough fuzz for you, because “Doom City” has enough for the entire side of an LP. The microtonal guitar in this sounds like creepy laughter from an evil imp hiding in a dark corner. I’m sure it’s not a random choice that “Nuclear Fusion” follows “Doom City.” The songs flow together and the groove is downright radioactive. It gets under your skin and might make you hear colors as they sing about patterns in the sky and on the subatomic level.

The title track (an instrumental) closes the record, and the band brings in cool Australian Aboriginal percussion to meld with the squealing, hypnotic microtonal guitars. KGALTW are off to a great start in their five-album quest. The second one, Murder of the Universe, is already available for pre-order. Get caught up now while you can by picking up Flying Microtonal Banana.

Keep your mind open.

Sleater-Kinney – Live in Paris

The first ever live album from alt-rock / punk / riot grrl legends Sleater-Kinney (Carrie Brownstein – guitars and vocals, Corin Tucker – guitars and vocals, Janet Weist – drums and vocals) is a doozy. Live in Paris captures the band on their 2016 tour supporting the No Cities to Love album (their first in over a decade), and the only show of the tour where they performed a second encore.

Opening with the fiercely funky “Price Tag,” the band is already firing on all cylinders within the first thirty seconds. Tucker is growling and spitting lyrics like a rivet gun throughout it. “Oh!”, one of their biggest hits, keeps up the pace and you can envision the whole Parisian crowd bouncing throughout it. The crunch of “What’s Mine Is Yours” is only outmatched by Tucker’s battle cry voice. It also has a cool breakdown that flirts with psychedelia before Weis hammers out a tremendous fill that takes them back to angry rock.

“A New Wave” is chock-full of fuzz and bent notes as Brownstein and Tucker sing great double vocals on the chorus. “Start Together” is one of Sleater-Kinney’s best songs about rocky relationships. Tucker’s vocals are always pleading on it, as is the guitar work. “No Cities to Love,” from the album of the same name, is a slick song about attachment and how many of us never truly connect with the place we live (“There are no cities to love. It’s not the cities, it’s the weather we love.”).

“Surface Envy” has Tucker crying out for a little help in a relationship (“We win, we lose. Only together do we break the rules.”) and Brownstein and Weis pound out a hard rhythm behind her. I would’ve flipped had I been in the crowd when they played “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.” It’s a powerful song about a girl with an unrequited crush and one of my favorites by them. “Turn It On” is a song about what might happen if that crush returns the affection.

Weis cuts loose at the beginning of “Entertain,” proving yet again that she’s one of the best rock drummers around nowadays. It’s a scathing song about a lover who expects Brownstein to entertain her all the time, but she lets her lover know that “reality is the new excitement.” “Jumpers” is one of Sleater-Kinney’s great examples of dual vocals from Brownstein and Tucker. The encores are “Dig Me Out” (a scorching punk track) and “Modern Girl” (a simple, but slightly fuzzed ode to being okay despite being alone).

Live in Paris might be the closest I get to a Sleater-Kinney show in a while, and I’m happy they released it. Everything you’ve heard about a live Sleater-Kinney show is true. This album is proof.

Keep your mind open.

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Live – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, ORB, Stonefield – Chicago, IL – April 08, 2017

I knew it was going to be a wild crowd for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard when I saw a woman in line pick up a roach she’d dropped after her friend had taken a toke and then passed to her. Yes, she finished a joint that had been dropped on a filthy Chicago sidewalk (on North Clark, to be precise) and then joined the line of people who had been “pre-gaming” at the pub next door.

I met a friend of mine, Amy, I hadn’t seen in years for the show. She hadn’t heard of KGATLW, ORB, or Stonefield. She told me she didn’t listen to anything by any of them before the show. She wanted to be surprised. She wore a walking boot as a result of a foot surgery, and that allowed us to sit in a specially designated “handicap seating” area in the Metro balcony. I’m not sure how anyone with an affliction worse than a post-surgery walking boot could make it up to the balcony, but we had great seats regardless.

Stonefield were already playing when we arrived (The Metro is one of the few venues I’ve visited that is serious about the starting times of their shows.), and they had already swooned most of the crowd. Amy was a fan within two songs, and their blend of 60’s psych and doom metal was a heady brew and a fine start to the evening.

ORB were onstage not long after Stonefield had finished their set. I was keen on seeing them as their Birth album is one of my favorites from 2016. Their hard-hitting stoner metal sounded great. They played a fast set that left all of us wanting more (in a good way). I hope they release another album or EP soon.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard came out to an enthusiastic crowd who were crowd surfing within three songs. Amy cried out, “Look at that crowd!” The main floor was a rolling sea of bodies and limbs for KGATLW’s entire set. They played a lot of tracks from their new album, Flying Microtonal Banana (review coming soon). “Sleep Drifter,” “Rattlesnake,” and “Billabong Valley” all were hot cuts. Another big hit with the crowd was “Altered Beast.”

The crowd, which was crazy enough already, went bonkers during “Robot Stop” from their amazing album Nonagon Infinity. “People Vultures” and “Gamma Knife” were also big hits. “Vomit Comet” was fun, as was They didn’t play an encore. Instead, they played a stunning medley of “Cellophane,” “Head On / Pill,” “I’m in Your Mind,” “Altered Me,” “Rattlesnake,” and “Robot Stop.” It was like they had looped the show back on itself like a snake eating its tail. I’ve never seen a band do anything like that live.

It was a killer show. My voice was hoarse by the end of it. By the way, KGATLW has already announced the release date of their second album (of five planned) for 2017. Murder of the Universe will be out June 23rd (and you can pre-order it as of today). Look for them to tour near your town soon!

Keep your mind open.

Kelly Lee Owens – self-titled

A strong contender for my favorite album of 2017 has arrived in early spring. Kelly Lee Owens’ debut self-titled album is a refreshing, sensual, and dreamy electro album that’s a great change of pace from all the EDM and dubstep ripping through festivals every weekend and seemingly everywhere. I don’t mind those genres at all, but Ms. Owens has crafted something that stands out and finding such records in EDM and dubstep is tough nowadays.

“S.O.” sounds like something Vangelis might’ve crafted until Owens’ incense smoke-drifting-through-sunshine vocals appear. Poppy beats that sound like electric tablas root the track, but it will make you float on your feet or in your chair. “Arthur” begins with birdsong and rainfall and looped moans as the beat builds and the song becomes a beautiful mist you can feel but can’t quite see.

I think “Anxi.,” which features Jenny Hval on lead vocals, is about anxiety. Hval sings about “keeping it together” and “doing Barack badly.” Does she worry about not living up to expectations she set for herself during Obama’s presidency or ones set by others, like the family she mentions? I’m not sure. All I do know is that the bass at the halfway point of the track is so damn funky that all anxiety you might have is washed away because you’re too busy dancing.

“Lucid” is a good name for the next track, because it’s like something from a dream. “Different from the rest. Don’t you see it? Where we ought to be. Lucid, lucid,” Owens sings in some of her clearest vocals on the record. She seems to urge a potential lover to see the love she’s offering that’s right there for the taking but is going unnoticed.

“Evolution” should, by all rights, be tearing up dance floors in various remixes by now. It’s a great mix of industrial dance music, EDM, and synth-pop. “Bird” throws you for a loop by starting with a synthesized strings and tubular bells. Then, dear God, that synth-bass wallops you upside the head and you’re practically drifting around the astral plane. “Throwing Lines” continues the poppy electro beats, but the vocals are reverbed to the moon and back (which is great).

I don’t know what “Cbm” stands for, but I do know it’s a floor-stomper of a track that speaks of colors in motion – which only adds to the trippy atmosphere. “Keep Walking” reminds me of old Chemical Brothers tracks (the ones on the mellow side, at least). It’s full of deep bass, fuzzy guitar, clockwork beats, and lovely female vocals. The tenth, and final, track is called “8.” Only Owens knows why. It has nothing to do with the length of the song (9:39), but perhaps it’s a reference to infinity or a Mobius loop. The song is definitely spacey enough to justify that guess.

I don’t know where Ms. Owens has been hiding all this time, but I’m glad she’s here and has given us this album. This has to be one of the best debuts I’ve heard in a long while. All other 2017 electro albums will have to bring their A-game to match or top it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage Acts I, II, & III (1979)

My best pal and I used to crank Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage a lot in college. It has a lot of rockers, humor, and weird stuff you love from Zappa’s work, but I never realized until I picked up my own copy that it’s a concept album about music being outlawed and Zappa’s masterful skewering of the record industry, commercial radio, religion, government censorship, and sexual repression.

The first song on the record, “Central Scrutinizer,” introduces one of the main characters and narrators of the album / play. Zappa plays the Scrutinizer and the character introduces nearly every track. The Scrutinizer’s job is to enforce laws that don’t exist yet, especially those related to “a horrible force called music.” The album is a presentation by the Scrutinizer to warn us against pursuing a career in such a dangerous thing.

The title track tells the story of Joe and his garage band’s meteoric rise to success and plummet into irrelevancy. It’s a groovy cut that salutes 50’s doo-wop, surf rock, and hard rock. Joe runs afoul of the law for dabbling in grooves, so the Scrutinizer sends him off to church to get his mind right. However, he runs into a lot of fun “Catholic Girls” there and is soon getting a blowjob at the CYO. It’s a gut-buster of a song that also has killer bass guitar throughout it and two switches to lounge-style jams that Zappa’s band pulls off with super slick ease.

Joe’s girlfriend, Mary, becomes a “Crew Slut,” in which Zappa sings about the groupie “way of life.” She joins the crew of another rock group and leaves Joe behind. There’s some fine harmonica playing on this track. The disco sound of “Fembot in a Wet T-shirt” shows that Zappa and his crew could (and did) play anything they damn well wanted. Mary gets back “On the Bus” after winning $50 in the wet T-shirt contest, and we’re treated to a great instrumental guitar solo taken from earlier live recordings in a process called xenochrony. Joe hears about Mary’s infidelity and finds solace in a new girl, Lucille, who gives him a venereal disease, which leads us to “Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?” – a song only Zappa could get away with putting on an album back then, let alone load the song with rock guitars and drums big enough for a concert hall. The following track, “Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up,” is a slow reggae jam as frequent Zappa collaborator Ike Willis sings Joe’s cries for love.

Joe joins the First Church of Appliantology (Yes, Zappa was satirizing Scientology years ahead of everyone else.) in an attempt to shed his earthly desires, only to learn he’s a “latent appliance fetishist.” Joe then heads to a fetish club on “Stick It Out,” where he hooks up with a “Sy Borg” and bursts out in German, and English, “Fuck me, you ugly son of a bitch!” Not only is this a song that will have you laughing throughout it, but it’s also one of the hottest rockers on the whole record. The band has a blast on it and everyone fires on all cylinders. Joe goes too hard on Sy Borg in the next track (while the band plays over eight minutes of weird lounge jazz) and is soon apprehended by the Central Scrutinizer’s thugs.

In prison, Joe is told about “Dong Work for Yuda,” which is perhaps the funkiest song about prison sex you’ve ever heard, and “Keep It Greasy” is a far funkier rocker about the same subject than Tool ever made. The rhythm section is on fire for the whole track.

“Outside Now” has Joe dreaming of playing guitar again to at least mentally escape from prison. The guitar work on it is suitably strange and sorrowful. “He Used to Cut the Grass” is a story of Joe’s woes once he gets out of prison and discovers all the other musicians are gone and the world is a squeaky clean plastic world of consumer goods so he has to retreat once more into his mind. The guitar solo on this is almost ethereal and a perfect reflection of Joe’s melting mind.

“Packard Goose” is, on its surface, a song about Joe’s descent into madness but is also a diatribe against music critics like yours truly. It’s a wild, almost freestyle jazz tune with stunning guitar shredding throughout it. Speaking of amazing guitar work, that’s all of the instrumental “Watermelon in Easter Hay.” It is easily among Zappa’s greatest solos and, according to Zappa himself, the best song on the record. Zappa’s son, Dweezil, has been quoted as saying it’s the best solo his father ever played.

The closer is “Little Green Rosetta,” a song the Central Scrutinizer believes is the best type of music. He (Zappa) freely admits “this is a stupid song,” but it’s a goofy yet fine piece of craftsmanship from him and features nearly everyone who worked in or hung out at Zappa’s home studio back in 1979.

It’s a fun, wild, amazing masterpiece. There was a stage show of it in Los Angeles in 2008, but where’s the Broadway version? We’ve had shows about gay puppets, anthropomorphic cats, goofy Mormons, and even adaptations of Monty Python films, why can’t we have Joe’s Garage: The Musical?

Keep your mind open.

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So Pretty – Suck It Up

Chicago funk-punks So Pretty (Ashley Holman – guitar, vocals, Stefan Lindgren – drums, vocals, Rachel Manter – guitar, bass, vocals, ukulele, James Seminara – bass, guitar, vocals) seemed to have walked out of a John Waters movie. They’re brash, a bit trashy, self-deprecating, and snarky. Their second album, Suck It Up, is like a refreshing gulp of fruit punch that you realized is spiked with gin about thirty seconds later.

I first heard the band, and Suck It Up‘s opener, “Comfort Service,” when I saw them play in Chicago earlier this year. Manter delivers a fiery rant from the perspective of a 1%’er chewing out hotel staff. I can’t help but wonder if she works or used to work in a hotel and wrote it as a middle finger to dickweed tenants. Basil Fawlty would love this tune.

Manter’s vocals and the band’s hard hitting on “Think Again” show they could start a metal project if they wanted. Holman takes over vocals on “Blueberry Blues,” in which she screams that she wants “to be punk rock royalty.” She’s well on her way, judging by the vocal and guitar shredding she unleashes on the track.

You can’t help but think of the Violent Femmes (thanks to the ukulele and funky beat) during “Nice Guys,” an ode to guys who treat women well and women who prefer to date douchebags. The following track, “Whisper Corner,” is like a left hook to the liver after the gentle feint of “Nice Guys.” It has Seminara and Lindgren unleashing a sonic assault in under two minutes.

“Chub Rub” is probably about what you think it is, and it’s a fun, trashy punk number. They get funky on “Limbo,” with Seminara singing about the rut of modern living (“I felt a little bit better when I felt a bit strange.”).

“Manhandler” has Holman returning to lead vocals and she and Manter crank the distortion on their guitars. It’s like a Bikini Kill track, and Holman’s ass-chewing of the song’s subject is great. Whereas that track reminds me of Bikini Kill, “No Hamburger” reminds me of Sleater-Kinney with its nice double vocals from Holman and Manter.

The album ends with the gloriously weird “Don’t Give Up the Ship” as Seminara sounds like a drunk trying to explain the world’s problems to everyone stopped at the red light. The whole band goes bonkers by the end of it, ending the album in a frenzy of punk chaos.

This is a fun record. Fun punk, and especially good fun punk, is hard to find nowadays. It’s nice to hear So Pretty keeping punk not only alive, but fun.

Keep your mind open.

Live – Anoushka Shankar – Ft. Wayne, IN – March 26, 2017

Sitar master Anoushka Shankar and her and put on an excellent ninety-minute performance of classical Indian music at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne’s Rhinehart Recital Hall. It was a nearly full house and Ms. Shankar and her band played three ragas for us.

Her band consisted of gentlemen playing bass and treble tanpurs (drone instruments), tabla (hand drums), flute, shehnai (a sort of trumpet), and mridangam (hand percussion). Her tabla player, Ojas Adhiya, had only played three times with her on this tour so far, but he played like he’d been touring for years. He and mridangam player Pirashanna Thevarajah had a great “duel” during the last raga in which they matched beats and fed off each other’s rhythms.

In the meantime, Anoushka Shankar was shredding her sitar. I saw her play, along with her favorite, the late, great Ravi Shankar, at Notre Dame University years ago (who was still killing it in his late 80’s). She wowed the crowd there, and she stunned the crowd in Fort Wayne. “I’m speechless,” said a man behind us at the end of the show. He’d never heard classical Indian music before.

I think a lot of people hadn’t. It was a lovely, almost intoxicating performance and a stunning bargain at only ten bucks a ticket. Don’t miss her if she comes near your town.

Keep your mind open.

Live – All them Witches and Irata – Grand Rapids, Michigan – March 19, 2017

It was an easy two-hour drive to Founder’s Brewery in Grand Rapids, Michigan and worth the time to see Nashville psych / blues rockers All Them Witches. It was the end of the winter leg of their tour, and I was glad they made it. I’d read about a show they had to cancel just a few days earlier due to the band being struck with stomach flu, so I’d called the venue to make sure the show was still happening. I was assured everything was fine.

It was. I met ATW’s lead singer and bassist, Charles Parks, at the band’s merch table and chatted with him. I told him I was glad to see him healthy. He described the last week as a mix of blizzard weather and lots of vomit. He said everyone was back in shape and that the flu was “nothing a lot of cold showers and sleep” couldn’t cure.

Opening for ATW was a metal band from North Carolina called Irata, who had been with ATW for the entire tour (no word if they also caught the stomach flu). Irata was already into their set by the time I got there and had the crowd cheering. They played a good blend of metal and stoner rock, and I’m always impressed when a drummer can sing lead while hammering out complex beats.

All Them Witches didn’t disappoint. Opening with a great rendition of “Alabaster,” they played most of their new album, Sleeping Through the War (which is one of my favorite records of 2017 so far), and had fun going into free-form jams on tracks like “Internet” and “Don’t Bring Me Coffee.”

As I expected it would be, hearing “When God Comes Back” live is like standing in front of a tidal wave. They went for broke on it, perhaps because it was the last show of the tour. Drummer Robby Staebler’s kit seemed to small for his tall frame and Hulk-like smashing.

All Them Witches altering minds with “My Last Name Is the Blues.”

They ended with “My Last Name Is the Blues,” which I’d heard on their fine live record Live in Brussels, and I was delighted to hear it in person. They stretched it out for what seemed like ten minutes and it was outstanding.

They did what any good band does – leave you wanting to catch their next show as soon as possible. Don’t miss them if they come to a town near you.

Keep your mind open.

Rewind Review: Cream – Wheels of Fire (1968)

The third stop on my journey through the Cream (Ginger Baker – drums, Jack Bruce – bass and vocals, Eric Clapton – guitar and vocals) catalogue brings me to their double album Wheels of Fire.

The album opens with perhaps their greatest hit, “White Room,” in which Bruce sings about being trapped in a strange place while Baker’s drums try to break him out and Clapton’s guitar wails like someone in a mental asylum. It’s a great way to start a record. Many bands could (and did) learn from it.

Their cover of the blues classic “Sitting on Top of the World” is another fine entry into their list of blues-rock power tracks, and Clapton’s guitars are downright dirty on it. “Passing the Time” floats from rock to calliope-fronted psychedelia. “As You Said” is more tripped-out psychedelia with Bruce’s vocals layered with reverb, his acoustic guitar licks spiced with Arabic influences, and even playing cello on it.

“Pressed Rat and Warthog” brings in trumpet and recorder as Baker sings about an unlikely pair of pals with a weird store and Bruce and Clapton put down heavy riffs.

Everyone had a political statement to make in the 1960’s, and Cream was no exception. “Politician” is a sharp-witted sting on politicians using their position to get laid and ducking responsibility whenever possible (“I’m support the left though I’m leanin’ to the right, but I’m just not there when it’s comin’ to a fight.”). “Those Were the Days” mentions another subject common in 1960’s music – Atlantis. Bruce sings about ancient times and places and how he craves a return to such enlightened times before Clapton unleashes a quick solo that might raise the lost city from the depths.

Their cover of the blues standard “Born Under a Bad Sign” pretty much set the standard for covering the Booker T classic. You can tell they had a good time recording it, and Baker’s groove is so sick it needs penicillin. “Deserted Cities of the Heart” has an excellent guest violin by Felix Pappalardi (who contributes a lot to the album on several tracks and instruments).

The second part of the double album is a live recording from the Fillmore that opens with another one of Cream’s greatest hits – their cover of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads.” Eric Clapton, as you well know by now, shreds the tune like a crosscut saw. As good as it is, however, it’s really a warm-up for the epic version of “Spoonful” that clocks in at nearly seventeen minutes. “Traintime” has Bruce having a blast on harmonica while Baker keeps a Johnny Cash-worthy beat behind him. Baker then goes bananas on “Toad” – a drum solo over sixteen minutes long.

The live portion of the album is alone worth the purchase price. The psychedelic rock on the studio album is a great bonus.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The MC5 – The Big Bang! Best of the MC5 (2000)

I once read a YouTube comment on a video of the MC5 (Michael Davis – bass and vocals, Wayne Kramer – guitar, piano, bass, vocals, Fred Smith – guitar, organ, harmonica, vocals, Dennis Thompson – drums, percussion, vocals, Rob Tyner – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion) in concert that said going to one of their shows was akin to an act of defiance. The MC5 embraced a punk rock political ethic before anyone knew what punk rock was, and their angry, wall-flattening sound and blatant references to sex, drugs, and sticking it to the Man were shocking at the time. The Big Bang! The Best of the MC5 is a great collection from Rhino Records that documents the band’s growth from garage rockers to Midwest rock giants who wouldn’t get their full due in other parts of the country until well after they called it quits.

Opening with one of their earliest singles, “I Can Only Give You Everything,” you can hear the band creating the raucous sound that would become their trademark. Wayne Kramer’s guitar riffs influenced everyone from the Smithereens to Nirvana. “Looking at You” is so fuzzy and frenetic that I’m sure Ty Segall plays it every night before he goes to bed. Kramer’s guitars on it are like something from a horror movie score. “I Just Don’t Know” is sweaty, dirty blues with thumping bass from Davis and Kramer’s guitars attacking you from all directions.

The next four tracks are from the band’s debut album, Kick Out the Jams, which was a live recording no less. “Ramblin’ Rose” begins with a testimonial call to arms by a friend of the band, Brother J.C. Crawford (“I wanna hear some revolution out there! Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide if you are going to be the problem or you are going to be the solution!”), before the MC5 make you feel like that guy in the chair from the Memorex ad and Kramer (who takes a turn at lead vocals) sings to the rafters. Their biggest hit, “Kick Out the Jams,” follows. It is so powerful that it feels like it might open a rift in space-time and pull you back to Halloween 1968 in Detroit when they recorded it. “Come Together” is a cheeky song about sex in which Tyner pretty much details getting off with his lady. “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)” is almost relentless as it hits with heavy grooves and chanting vocals.

The next eight tracks are from their second album, Back in the U.S.A. “Tonight” calls for kids to “get together and have a ball” and reveals the band’s love of blues (especially in Davis’ bass). “Teenage Lust” calls to every one of their fans; as does “High School” (“Kids want a little action, kids want a little fun.”), which most likely inspired a good chunk of the Ramones’ catalogue. “Call Me Animal” has some of Thompson’s best drumming. The whole song has a beat you can’t shake. “The American Ruse” is a great example of the MC5’s political leanings (“They told you in school about freedom, but when you try to be free they don’t let ya.”). Tyner’s lyrics are scathing and still hold weight today. “Shakin’ Street” is another salute to American youth, this time with Smith on lead vocals. The title of “The Human Being Lawnmower” made it too risqué for much radio play, which is a shame because it’s a crazy, near-psychedelic freak-out of a tune. The title track to the album is a cover of the Chuck Berry classic. The MC5 worshipped at Berry’s altar, and they do him great homage.

The next five tracks are from High Time, starting with the powerful “Sister Anne” – a song about a tough, foxy nun (and listen to that harmonica solo!). “Baby Won’t Ya” brings a bit of soul to the MC5’s heavy rock as Tyner sings about a familiar subject – wanting sex – and Kramer sizzles on guitar. “Miss X” starts with simple piano chords, but then the guitars stroll into the room like professional hitmen and the song takes on a sinister edge for the next five minutes as Tyner sings a ballad, believe it or not. “Over and Over” is another biting rant not only at politicians, but also at people who only give lip service to revolutionary action. Tyner goes for broke on it, his voice nearly cracking multiple times throughout the track. “Skunk (Sonically Speaking)” brings in a full horn section, adding a wild funk the band was exploring just before they split up for good.

The compilation ends, wisely, with another live track – “Thunder Express.” It’s a great jam with Kramer making it sound easy on guitar and Thompson sounds like he’s having a ball behind his kit.

The MC5 were up for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, and they will (and damn well should) get in one of these years. They still influence bands to this day, their live performances couldn’t be touched, and finding bands that match their fury today is difficult. They made a big bang in the 1970’s, and it still resonates.

Keep your mind open.

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