The Jigsaw Scene “Winterland”
Building on the success of their critically acclaimed 2010 LP Bananas Foster, The Jigsaw Seen return with this meticulously produced winter-themed song cycle. It opens with the pounding drums and fuzzy bass of “What About Christmas?” although it sounds great, it’s not really a holiday song (other than the title). The groove beat on “Snow Angels Of Pigtown” showcases a clean riff and smooth vocal by Dennis Davidson. A more traditional jangle pop track is “Candy Cane” in the best REM tradition.
Winterland straddles the line where you aren’t sure if this is a holiday album or not, even though the lyrics indicate it is. “Circle of Steel” is a madrigal styled folk tune with stately strumming and fingerpicking. But the tone gets pretty bland on “First Day of the New Year” and the latter half of the album gets a bit syrupy, but at least we’re not hearing the millionth version of “Jingle Bell Rock.” A good holiday album for those who are tired of holiday albums.
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Baby Woodrose “Love Comes Down”
Baby Woodrose is a band from Copenhagen, Denmark with an accurate retro garage sound. Originally Love Comes Down was released in 2006, but this album is now re-released for re-discovery.The pysche pop stylings of “What Ya Gonna Do?” retain an impressive 70’s hard rock vibe. Sounding a lot like KISS jamming with Lenny Kravitz on “Found My Way Out” it sports some nice fuzz riffs with the chorus.
Other tracks are just as cool, “Kitty Galore” and “All Over Now” are garage pop classics. Unlike other acid pop bands, there are no ten-minute naval gazing experiments here. Each track is a tight composition, and some gems are “Chemical Buzz” and the organ led “Christine.” The heaviest rocker here “Born To Lose” channels the spirit of Jimi Hendrix and The Animals. Fans of bands like The Beat Rats and The Ugly Beats will love this too. Jump in the time machine and fire up the Baby Woodrose.
