The Rubinoos “Automatic Toaster”
The venerable Rubinoos have returned with their first new music in five years and it’s a blast! The band lineup includes Jon Rubin, Tommy Dunbar, Al Chan and guest drummer/producer Robbie Rist, and they jam together just perfectly. The band are firing on all cylinders here, as the opener “Two Guitars, Bass and Drums” is classic Rubinoos, a great band anthem for sure. Much of these songs are like lost gems from the Rubinoos past albums, both fun and upbeat – perfect for a hot summer. “The Pony Express” and “Earth Number 1” standout as great songs with killer choruses and tight instrumentation. The old boy-girl chestnut is highlighted on “Can’t Have Her Back” and “Same Old Heartache” to excellent effect. Toward the albums end, a few tracks sound like the boys have done too many kids musical records (“Zombie Night In Madrid”, “Cave Girls”). Right now this album is only available as a Spanish import through the band directly, but I expect it to reach the standard distribution channels soon.
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Jeremy Messersmith “The Reluctant Graveyard”
This blog has been following Jeremy throughout his career, and each album gets better. Jeremy mentioned in an interview that this album has a highly melodic vintage sound. The chiming guitars start us on “Lazy Bones” which zips along to a catchy melody. The retro sound suits him fine on the awesome “Dillnger Eyes” with it’s skiffle beat, distorted guitar and multi-tracked chorus. “Organ Donor” does a bit of Sting meets Colin Bluestone in this moody little track with some excellent guitar and strings combo. “Violet” is another winner with a Bacharach syled opening and lush Beatles chorus. Even “John the Determinist” could be a companion to Eleanor Rigby. Despite these sweet melodies, the subject matter remains morbid, in fact every song relates to death in some way. The songs have a strong narrative, and “A Girl, a Boy, and a Graveyard” is bit of acoustic folk along the lines of Elliot Smith. The strongest message of the album is in “Deathbed Salesman” where the undertaker intones ““This is how it has to end / So love somebody while you can.” This is a brilliant concept album, don’t miss it.