Top 10 CD's of 2008

Another year has come and gone, so once again it's time to go over my favorite CD's of the past year.

10. Danelia Cotton, Rare Child: A little funk, a little rock, and a powerful voice make for a winning formula.







9. Mudcrutch: Tom Petty breaks a bit from his usual formula, and the result is one of his strongest albums in quite some time.







8. La Rocca, OK Okay: These three Irishmen and one Englishman are superior pop craftsman that I expect to be hearing a lot from in the future.






7. Dion, Heroes: Legends of Early Guitar Rock: This is an absolute delight for people with even a moderate interest in 50's music.






6. Fleet Foxes: This highly touted debut justifies the hype.









5. Týr, Ragnarok: By combining heavy metal with folk music and a great concept, Týr have put the Faroe Islands on the musical map.






4. Anna Ternheim: Yes, the EP was better than the full-length album that followed. Ternheim just released an album of all-new material in Sweden in November, so look for it to reach these shores soon.




3. The Ditty Bops, Summer Rains: It may not be the list-topper that Moon Over the Freeway was two years ago, but it's still another solid effort from the charmingly subversive duo.





2. Sam Phillips, Don't Do Anything: Phillips has always been at her best when she's been at her most cathartic, and there's plenty of catharsis to go around on this record.





1. The Born Again Floozies, Street Music: Stubborn defiance meets great songwriting. Fly your freak flag high!







reviewed by Scott

The Born Again Floozies, Street Music (Triple R Records, 2008)

At about this time last year, I reviewed 7 Deadly Sinners, the debut CD from the eccentric Indianapolis group The Born Again Floozies. With a rhythm section consisting of tap dancers and a tuba, and Joey Welch's uniquely offbeat style of songwriting, I wasn't certain if they could achieve more than novelty status. However, with their strong follow-up album Street Music (13 Rebellions and a Song of Consolation), the band demonstrates enough substance and depth to indicate that they have plenty of staying power.

The basic framework of the band hasn't changed any. Welch still fronts the band and plays his guitar with same percussive style that characterized the last album. The current line-up sports a new tuba player and only one tap dancer, but the changes don't result in a noticeable difference in the style. What has changed is that Welch is quite a bit more pissed off this time around. He has a big time axe to grind, and his lyrics and playing have gotten considerably edgier. On the opening song "We Got The Power (Love Letter from America)," for example, he sings "We got the guns to manufacture truth; we got the shot to quell our own youth." Indeed, the whole album is series of songs of defiance against the attempts of the powers that be to corporatize and homogenize everything and everyone.

You could cram as much quirkiness as possible onto one album, but you would still need some good songs to make it work. Happily, Joey Welch delivers the goods, to a such degree that he's vaulted himself into the highest tier of songwriters in today's music scene. The lyrics hit their mark repeatedly. The band makes the music work as well, whether they aim for funk ("Dumb It Down Now!"), a subtly insistent groove ("Beulah, You Rock"), or swing ("Dirt Cheap Suit").

Street Music contains 44 minutes of defiance, irreverence, and most importantly, fun. Hopefully The Born Again Floozies will keep flying their freak flag high for some time to come.

Overall grade: A

reviewed by Scott

"Beulah, You Rock"

Top 10 CD's of 2007

Another year, another mountain of CD's reviewed here. As I've finally got all the reviews up, I'll spare long discussions and just link to the original posts.

10. The Born Again Floozies, 7 Deadly Sinners: I had a whole bunch of B+ albums, and room for only one of them in the top 10. (I think I need to make some of my B+ grades into B's, while we're on the subject. Some of the B+ albums were clearly better than others.) Perhaps being freshest in my memory gave this particular CD the needed boost, but chalk one up for novelty.

9. Vieux Farka Touré: The younger Farka Touré picks up his father's mantle with nicely with a lot of groove-oriented guitar playing on his debut.




8. Alamaailman Vasarat, Maahan: Totally frenetic, but also totally original and fun.




7. John Fogerty, Revival: A venerable legend gets mad, gets even, and keeps rocking.




6. Roachford, Word of Mouth: It will take more than my word of mouth to get Roachford albums released in the U. S. again. Our loss.




5. Kíla, Gambler's Ballet: Another album not yet released here, but at least I have hopes for this one.




4. Gomez, How We Operate: I know, this came out in 2006, but it would have cracked last year's list had I known about it. So it's on this year's list instead.




3. Väsen, Linnaeus Väsen: A great live act in either format, but their albums as a quartet have always worked a little better for me than their albums as a trio.




2. Ranarim, Morning Star: Two Swedish albums in the top three. Deal with it.





1. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Baby 81: Essential hard rock from a band that keeps getting better.




reviewed by Scott

The Born Again Floozies, 7 Deadly Sinners (Triple R, 2007)

The Born Again Floozies defy an easy description. Then again, it would be a challenge to find the right words to say about any rock band whose rhythm section consists of a tuba and a pair of tap dancers. Throw in a group leader who plays guitar in a uniquely percussive style and writes quirky lyrics about Bible thumpers, getting arrested, and enjoying the company of society's various outcasts, and you have a great recipe for a novelty act. But will this group from Indianapolis still hold people's attention once the novelty of their debut CD 7 Deadly Sinners wears off?

Actually, they just might, due to the legitimate talents of Joey Welch, the head lunatic in the asylum. He's a fine singer and guitarist, and has written at least a couple of tunes whose catchiness transcends their off-kilter presentation. The title song is the obvious single here. Not only does "7 Deadly Sinners" provide a name for the album, but for the band as well: "Born again floozies, heretics all, practicing heathen makers, let's have a ball." "Do Did Does" and "Drivin by the Penetiary" are fine songs as well.

While I can't guarantee that the Born Again Floozies will be more than one-album wonders -- hell, this album may not even get them regular gigs outside of Indianapolis -- but 7 Deadly Sinners is a fun record with a few goofy but likeable songs. I'd definitely recommend this to people in the mood for something a bit different.

Overall grade: B+

reviewed by Scott