Hit and Miss Mail Orders

SteveK on This Week’s CDs–

Hit and Miss Mail Orders

SteveK on This Week’s CDs.

As the title of this post suggests, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag this week, musically speaking.  I got two CDs from lesser-known artists and decided to give them a listen.  Once surprised me in a good way, the other, well…less so.

Frankie Mayfield and the Soundbox: Self-Titled

This one is awful.  Sorry, no other way to put it or preface the sentiment.  While the musical arrangement and production on this one are capable, the lyrics and especially the vocals are not.

The songs run the gamut of tired cliché; all of them badly sung in a whiny, nasal voice that left me wondering if this was all brilliant comedy or some sort of genius performance art.  It is neither.  Imagine Adam Sandler from back in the day, doing a funny, retarded voice and then singing an album’s worth of Indie Rock.  Yeah…that’s the awesomeness of Frankie Mayfield and Soundbox…only not as funny, and not on purpose.  Really, shockingly bad.

Frankie Mayfield and the Soundbox: Self-Titled

Blacktop

Steve’s Rating: 3/10

The Blue Van: Man Up

Denmark isn’t exactly the first place that springs to mind when one thinks about Blues Rock.  But veteran Danish ensemble The Blue Van are putting out some of the most kick-ass sounding modern take on Blues Rock and Southern Redneck Rock-revival that I’ve heard, since My Morning Jacket unleashed ‘Evil Urges’ in 2008.

They’ve been around for just under a decade and they’ve put out 5 albums in that time; ‘Man Up’ is their latest.  The sound on this one ranges between the aforementioned Blues-rooted Redneck Rock to Post-Grunge, to manic, treble-charged tunes that sound like they’re unreleased material from the Vines.

My only real criticism of this one is that the title track of the album would have made a much better opener than “Be Home Soon”.  However, driving through the rest of the thirteen tracks on ‘Man Up’, including “Silly Boy”, the very Chris Cornell-sounding “Lay Me Down and Die”, and my personal favourite, “I’m A Man”, The Blue Van recovers from this one, forgivable fault.

This is, arguably, one of the best albums of the first half of 2010; if you like the Rock music, you really should check this one out.

The Blue Van: Man Up

20 Buck Spin

Steve’s Rating: 9/10

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