Phonology

    From the opening riff it's clear that this rock and roll is neither new nor old. Granted it's full of energy, with a dirty great wall of fuzzy guitars, and a passion for rare cover versions. Everything sounds vaguely familiar. The majority of the songs covered on this album aren't great pop hits of the 50s and 60s, but they might ring a bell. In this respect, The Detroit Cobras have the songs on their side. They're really not competing with the originals, a battle that is so frequently lost when covering big hits.

    When these songs were young and fresh in the 50 and 60s, innuendo was the only way to express sexuality through song, so hearing vocalist Rachel Nagy sleaze her way through them with her brash filthy vocals really gives them a new slant. The only original track on the album, Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat), takes that retro idea of innuendo and brings it right up to date while remaining just straight enough to fit with the rest of the album.

    The instrumentation can't fail to please. It's fuzzy and twangy, and the rhythm section's so tight it's almost perfect. We're treated to riff after riff, and the whole experience fits somewhere between the turbosleaze of The Cramps and the heartfelt vocals of 60s girl groups like The Flirtations.

    Nagy has an impressive talent, effortlessly belting out Everybody's Going Wild, and growling her way through subtler tracks like I Wanna Holler and It's Raining. Her only failing is an occasional hint that she might be going through the motions. There's a lack of passion and a whole lot of style in her voice and she's at risk of sounding less than convincing. Surely that's the problem with being a covers band.

Update on Monday, December 6, 2004 at 06:03PM by sisterphonetica

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