2007-08-30 - 11:09 a.m. How smart are chimps? Pretty damn smart. If you're missing Royal Trux, (and RTX won't hold ya), you could do a lot worse than Howling Hex's latest. Amidst the inspired noise you'd expect from Neil Haggerty, there are weirdly lovely moments like "Fifth Dimensional Johnny B. Goode," where the band sounds like...the Band (or like Mick Taylor-era Stones). And "Everybody's Doing It," which demonstrates New York Dolls-style joyful rocking at a time when all the bands are trying to be New Order... Not sure what to make of the new Rilo Kiley album. The songs are undeniably good--"Silver Lining" is an instant hit here at IHOP HQ!--but the production is...scary. Some of the tracks here could have won the 1977 Grammy for "Best Performance by a Band with Large, LA-type perms and platform shoes." I'm not sayin' that's bad, it just takes a little getting used to. thoughts? (11 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact