After doing a moderately deep dive into those Jem "Celebrates" records, I found myself loving every one of The Midnight Callers contributions, so I put on their last original full length, 2023's "Rattled Humming Heart" to see if they had anything other than a good cover up their sleeves. It turns out, they do.
The band sounds like they are fans of Cheap Trick and Queen, and thankfully nothing on the record seemed like a blatant rip off. These guys know what they are doing. At no time did I lose patience, and instead wanted more when it was over.
Check out a few of my faves, and in case you missed it, their cover of Ray Davies' "Come Dancing" is at the bottom and they knock it out of the park.
5 comments:
Love the "Come Dancing" cover. 😎
Ditto on "Come Dancing." And happy 17 birthday to Burning Wood!
Thanks - another great discovery.
Wow! I can’t believe you brought these guys up. Good band that ain’t afraid to wear their influences prominently.
About five years ago I was shopping for tunes at Rhino Records when they were still in Claremont. When I walked in, they were playing the Midnight Callers first album, “Red Letter Glow.” I reckon it was midway through the CD. The song that was playing evoked a lot of 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s bands I liked, and all at the same time. By the time I heard “State of Me,” I was sold. Then they followed with “Hipster Girl” which sounded like a tremendous lost Cheap Trick track. Fuck! These guys rocked.
Even though their stuff is only available on CD, it’s geared for LP - 11 tracks per album, under forty minute playing time. Both albums are terrific. Concise songs with enough variety to keep things interesting, Between the two, there are 21 originals. The lone cover is Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” which sounds like INXS got hold of it, sorta. With a dash of Prince. These guys shapeshift through their songs. And I dig it. OK, the Tom Petty voice affectation kinda bugged me at first. But not enough to keep me from liking “Girl On the Run.”
Not earth shaking, but worthy of more attention than they get. Sounds great blasting in the car. Solid four stars for each album and I’m a tough grader. Fun stuff.
Thanks for the Carla too, Sal.
VR
i hear some Raspberries in there
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