Electric Sweat

Forgive my cynicism, but doesn’t it sometimes feel that there’s some sort of US garage band Fame Academy at work these days? Or could it just be that the industry is snapping up anybody with a whiff of dirty clothes and even dirtier guitars?

Either way, there’s an increasing tendency for such acts to sound just as homogenous as their manufactured pop counterparts. The Mooney Suzuki, although comparatively old hands (this second album was actually recorded as early as 2001), face the double-edged sword of entering a market place that is eager but becoming dangerously overcrowded. And while TMS aren’t at all bad, they’re lacking that extra special ingredient that marks them out from the in-crowd.

The production is agreeably raw, while the material demonstrates that the quintet are encouragingly aware that there is life beyond a few old punk albums. ‘Oh Sweet Susanna’, ‘Natural Fact’ and ‘I Woke Up This Mornin’’ have a souped-up, highly energised rhythm ‘n’ blues feel that brings to mind the early Stones with a punk rocket up their arse, while ‘The Broken Heart’ and the Hammond heavy ‘It’s Showtime Part II’ mine country rock and ’70s funk respectively.

Not quite different enough to make them contenders, but different all the same.