The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features

The Fleshtones

Have a Good Look | Yep Roc
By BRETT MILANO  |  March 5, 2008
3.0 3.0 Stars
inside_THE-FLESHTONES---HAV
It’s not enough for a great live band to create a strong, sweaty groove in the studio: they’ve gotta write the songs, too. That’s an obvious point, but one that finally hit the Fleshtones on 1998’s More Than Skin Deep — their best album to that point, made when almost nobody was paying attention. They cut their average song length in half, jumped the number of hooks, and came up with a medium-fi approach that sounded more live than their several live albums. They’ve been on a roll since then, and Take a Good Look may be their personal best. There’s swagger, bluster, and just enough late-career desperation to give it some poignance. Most of all there are big, fat hooks — better than the hooks the band wrote 20 years ago, and as good as those the neo-garage kids are writing now. The advice on “Love Yourself” gets resonance from its tough Yardbirds sound, and anybody who ever gave the band a bad time is dispatched in “Shiny Hiney,” one of their nastiest “Louie Louie” homages. Detroit producer Jim Diamond keeps them on the verge of mania throughout, and it bursts through on the closing title track. The only song here over three minutes, it finds singer Peter Zaremba testifying that the Fleshtones had to be crazy to stick around this long and that they still ain’t going away.

The Fleshtones +  Lyres + The Prime Movers | Harpers Ferry, 158 Brighton Avenue, Allston | March 7 | 617.254.9743
Related: Here and now, Life is a cabaret, Garage-rock heaven, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Music Reviews,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

[ 11/28 ]   Seth Shomes Band  @ Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun
[ 11/28 ]   Noche De Estrellas  @ Mohegan Sun Arena
[ 11/28 ]   Hot Tuna  @ Calvin Theatre
[ 11/28 ]   McAlister Drive + Whitetree + Cadrin  @ Center for Arts In Natick
[ 11/28 ]   Aventura  @ Agganis Arena
ARTICLES BY BRETT MILANO
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: MICHAEL JACKSON | BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR: HISTORY IN THE MIX  |  July 01, 2009
    Personally, I'm fascinated by Michael Jackson, who may be the only truly deviant artist in modern pop: who would you really find scarier in a dark alley, him or Marilyn Manson?
  •   THE DRESDEN DOLLS  |  May 27, 2008
    No, Virginia ranks with Elvis Costello’s Taking Liberties as a B-sides/leftovers album that turns out to be more fun and more revealing than a thought-out official release.
  •   NO BULL  |  May 19, 2008
    There was nothing campy or kitschy about Herb Alpert’s local appearance this week, and in a way that’s a shame.
  •   MUCK AND THE MIRES  |  April 15, 2008
    If Phil Spector could produce the Ramones, then Kim Fowley can produce Muck and the Mires, local faves whose sound has always been two parts Ramones to five parts British Invasion.
  •   JOE JACKSON  |  April 01, 2008
    Joe Jackson always sounds best when at least some of his original quartet are on board.

 See all articles by: BRETT MILANO

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group