The Reigning Sound - Too Much Guitar

That's a little bit of a heavy-handed dismissal.

all their records have been pretty different, this latest one is being hailed as the one that integrates the power pop and country rock excursions of their last 2 records & the compulsive gamblers stuff with the primal oblivians stuff, but I haven't heard it yet.

I went and saw them 2 years ago and was TOTALLY let down. Granted it was 2 years ago and maybe they are good now...but the OBLIVIANS ruled.

i had the same experience last year. really frustrating, because with a band like this the shows should blow the recorded material out of the water. i like the albums, though, first one especially.

ok, fritz...i'll def. check it out

I'm dying to hear that new black lips record. their first one might be my favourite rock record of the past few years. and they're all like 19 yrs old too.

by the way, the R.S. band's a 3-pc. now, but all three dudes are original members.

Overall TBHS is a decent album, but MUCH better live. It's a little too ummm polished on the album, I guess. I really like them more raucous. On the album it's a bit more zanaxed and live I've seen Greg break a string every song for the first three or four. There's a great garage rock jittery vibe happening at their shows that I love. And between losing the keys and recording their new album they sounded great. It was like it freed them up a bit.

Haven't heard anything since then. Was out of town for the album release, and generally haven't been going to as many shows lately.

You have to crank it to get any kind of clarity, which is probably intentional, those bastards. A healthy chunk of the songs are pretty great, and even though I would change some things there's no denying that the production does fit the style.

I like a band who really appreciates the value of a tambourine.

--Vanessa

It's really good but it's lacking in something that makes it a good Greg album. Any comments about what that might be.

And I heard the Catholic Boys mentioned upthread. I'm from Milwaukee and have seen them a great many times. I would like to hear opinions on this, considering that they are taken as gods here.

A not particularily good production (from two different sets, with two different engineers) causes it to sound muddled and same-y from start to finish. GC is a great songwriter, but you wouldn't know it from this album.

everybody I know including thinks this album fucking rules the school, this thread is from bizarro universe or something

Definitely! Love this album WTF ILM

Doesn't seem too bizarro to me. Not all that much hatin' from what I'm seeing. Plus it's kind of an old thread. The Oblivians shadow is still hanging here a bit - and it doesn't add much to making sense of what he's trying to do.

I still prefer the "Home For Orphans" versions of "Medication" and "Funny Thing" - and I remember being a bit dubious about TMG before it came out. I thought the one before it, "Time Bomb High School", was a real let-down after "Break Up Break Down" which is brilliant.

I mentioned this on another RS thread but if you're a fan - search out the zipfiles of the radio show he hosted in Milwaukee a couple of years ago. Greg playing 2 hours of his favorite 45's from his own collection - great garage, soul, powerpop, and hillbilly stuff. It's googlable.

ahhh see I think Time Bomb High School is excellent. The new one's lovely as well, and Too Much Guitar, at least for the first nine songs, is unfuckwithable

if you can't give me everything, then don't you gimme nothin' at all.

Don't get me wrong... I do like a lot of TBHS - "Straight Shooter" especially - and, if it wasn't clear there, I like TMG a lot too.

But - and this might just be me getting older - I kind of prefer Greg in his Dillard & Clark mode, like on "Break Up Break Down" and "Home For Orphans".

"Love & Curses" seems like a nice balance of the two I think, gotta give that some more listens.

The "You Got Me Humming" cover achieves everything that the last 35 years of The Rolling Stones' attempts at covering soul songs have failed at. I love how it sounds like there's horns buried in there, though I think it's just feedback. In my perfect world, Jay Reatard would have lived to produce a Rubin-like rescue of the Rolling Stones. The man could do muddy mid-range.

^That's a thought.

Wouldn't agree that the Stones failed at covering soul... but anyway Greg talks about that Hummin cover on that radio show a bit - and he plays the Gino Washington version he based his cover on... it's rom an acetate of which he may own the only copy! It is an amazing arrangement of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsD-J2_9Uig
now I'm confused if this is Gino Washington(Detroit) or Geno Washington (American who settled in UK and stole Gino's name & inspired the Dexy's Song) - Greg definitely seemed under the impression it was Gino

this album rules and the oblivions ruled hard and pretty much everything this dude has ever done rules hard.

m@tt is otm