|
The 22-20's clearly have the blues-lust
of many of their white-boy UK predecessors, but
tempered in this case with a dose of Detroit-style
grit and at times the New York glam of the Velvet
Underground. Which of course begs the question:
why are the British bands so much better at evoking
American sounds than Americans are?
What the 22-20's lack in years they certainly
make up for in exuberance, and what they lack
in lyric-writing skills, they make up in attitude.
Straight blues songs like "Baby Brings Bad
News" complement sexy rock songs ("Why
Don't You Do It For Me" and "I'm The
One") and dreamy psychedelic numbers with
Lou Reed-esque vocals ("The Things That Lovers
Do") keep the White Stripes comparisons at
bay.
Their sass and sound belies the young age of
this British four-piece, and their chosen genre
and sound helps balance their often-clichéd
lyrics—blues-rock, like film noir, thrives
on the stock lines and characters. A young band
wearing its influences on its sleeves could do
a hell of a lot worse than this debut album.
www.astralwerks.com
-Sarah Jaffe, May 6, 2005
See More Reviews at our
Music Review Archive
|
