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JIM KWESKIN & THE JUG BAND
Acoustic Swing & Jug
SIXTIES JUG BAND music was one of those gone-
Unfortunately, this group of wild characters fizzled out in a
pre-rock era now mostly remembered for the Diet Folk Music of
the Kingston Trio. In this writer's opinion, the Vanguard label
never produced a more colorful band, and this album is up their
with their best.
--Dave McElfresh
Self-titled
I CAN'T RECALL any bands from Dallas making a dent in recent music
history, but the Mullens blaze through their debut album, dead
set on being the first. Better yet, it's pleasingly hard to pinpoint
the Mullens sound or quickly reduce them to some catch-phrase
label flawed by implication. As soon as the needle head bounced
onto the first cut, there was no doubt this album was a keeper
on the unpretentious rock spectrum, sure to sound as vital 10
years from now as it does today. The Mullens deliver straight
up rock-and-all-night-roll. Boring? I think not. Attitude-driven
treblefest you can feel in your bones (but thankfully, not ear-achingly
lo-fi)? Hell, yeah!
Don't go by my recommendation alone: If you like the Rolling
Stones, Ramones or early Lyres, the Mullens will do you right.
Lead singer Tim Stile's smug, Jagger-esque vocals come across
as the voice of every narcissistic bastard who knows he gets what
he wants. "Well I used to shop/But never stopped to try you/Now
I'm pretty sure, baby I'm gonna drive you," he asserts on
"Step On the Gas." Cuts like "Thought You Left,"
"Black Molly" and "Start Smokin' " are the
reasons a new band is started every day in yet another kid's basement.
No gimmicks, no naked chicks on the album cover, no movie-soundtrack
ballads. This is the music that separates the veritable fans from
the garage tourists.
--Fen Hsiao
Yesteryear Of The Horse
LAST YEAR, AFTER Young released his Year Of The Horse concert
film, a compilation video appeared among collectors' circles entitled
Yesteryear Of The Horse. Highly unauthorized, it made for
compelling viewing as it captured Neil and his Horse in full gallop
in Japan and London during the legendary spring '76 tour; rumor
had it the professionally shot footage was originally slated for
a concert film, never completed, called Odeon/Budokan.
Now, some enterprising persons have taken the audio portion of
Yesteryear and turned it into a compact disc (also, um,
highly unauthorized). And if you excuse the slightly low volume
level, which can be remedied by a twist of a stereo knob, and
a bit of audible hiss due to tape generation loss (not a problem
if you're used to listening to live tapes), it's quite a show.
Starting out in "mellow Neil" fashion ("Mellow
My Mind," natch, then "Too Far Gone") and rising
to an early rocking peak ("Drive Back," "Cowgirl
In The Sand") then back down to some country and folk ("Lotta
Love," "Tell Me Why"), it concludes with two of
his epic-length classics ("Down By The River," "Cortez
The Killer").
The dynamics of this set are just like those of a great concert,
suggesting that the original video compilers had a sense of artistry
about them, or at least an intuition where it comes to things-Neil.
A lo-fi banjo/harmonica rehearsal of "Out On The Weekend,"
from '72, is tagged on the end as a nice bonus cut.
--Fred Mills
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