CD Reviews

Muck and the Mires

Dorren EP | Dirty Water

By BRETT MILANO | 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. On their three previous CDs, Muck seemed incapable of getting a studio sound that approached their live one; the tracks sounded like clean demos and their devastating live volume wasn’t even hinted at. Enter Fowley, the legendary LA eccentric who wrote “Alley Oop” in the early ’60s, discovered the Runaways a decade later, and currently DJ’s on Little Steven’s Sirius channel. Part of his contribution appears to have been creating a manic vibe in the studio. Lead singer Evan Shore sounds grittier than ever before; the band sound far less polite. And this four-track EP (a teaser for an eventual album) is still plenty Beatlesque, but now they’re the scruffy Hamburg Beatles instead of the cleaned-up ones. The title track has long been one of their best live numbers, but the standout is “Hypnotic,” which Shore seems to have written after Fowley told him his existing songs weren’t stupid enough. It fills the bill, with a wonderfully silly whammy-bar bit that introduces each chorus. And Fowley throws in enough handclaps and surf guitar to evoke one of those mythical Sunset Strip parties.

Muck and the Mires | Middle East upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge | April 18 | 617.864.EAST

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