Saturday, March 19, 2011

Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head


When I was in high school, no one I knew had any idea who these guys were. For some reason, the first album of theirs I ever found was Bucketful of Brains, which makes most shitty bootlegs sound pretty okay. So I had a real hard time getting anyone to listen through the distortion, crowd noise and indifferent pressing to see how cool this band was. Eventually I found this, and I've pretty much claimed it to be The Best Album You Don't Have ever since. Sure, you may have it, and if you do, I'd have to guess you agree with me in regards to everyone else.

Simply put, this album is as good as gritty, bluesy rock ever gets. I don't know why it never got any airplay. You want great guitar playing? It's here. Cyril Jordan sounds like everything a top flight rock band in 1971 should have had to me. He plays great acoustic blues, and rocks and electric hard. What's not to like? Toss in Roy Loney's over-the-top vocals and I think you've really got something special. City Lights is hilarious, and Loney's dream of seeing the Empire State building because that's where King Kong climbed up is perfect. The title track is what every mother didn't want to hear their kid listening to in 1971 (or 1980, either). I think you should go buy it. Right now.

1 comment:

  1. An absolute MUST HAVE. Great review, 2K Man. If you don't have it already, you should also check out "Shake Some Action" by the Groovies. Never understood why this band didn't blast off into the stratosphere and become HUGE.

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