Rowdy, rough, and thoroughly enjoyable, the new one from Oakland's The Wind-Ups is the perfect record for the weekend. It's got the kind of spark to it that suggests an era when alternative bands didn't play it so safe. And, frankly, it's full of riffs so it's something to play loud.
"Happy Like This" and "Petri Dish" are a bit like things from White Reaper without the cartoon-y put-on, and a bit like Fu Manchu without the boogie van stuff. The band members don't share their last names but singer Jake does time in Terry Malts and Jonathan Richman's bands and there's little here that earns a comparison to either of them, really. Though I suppose I can hear the faintest of echoes of Terry Malts in something like "Standing on Your Own", a track that places a premium on a hook and keeping things brief and to the point. The excellently-titled "Too Many Bibles" is a high octane highlight here, and likely the best song with "Bible" in the title since "Should the Bible Be Banned" by McCarthy.
There's a lot to respect here with what The Wind-Ups are doing. There are 17 songs in 28 minutes and, aside from Robert Pollard and crew, who else is going to try that these days and get away with it? This rocks, and sometimes that's enough.
Live in Oakland by The Wind-Ups is out now via Dandy Boy Records.
[Photo: Christine Mitchell]