Jealousy. Yes
waveriders, I admit to experiencing this awful feeling. I'm human, so sue me. Wait...that was a joke. Please don't sue me! I really don't want to rely on that trusty
insanity plea for my defense. Sure it
worked once, but there's no guarantee another judge would buy into what I would
be selling. Anyway what was I talking
about? Oh yes! Jealousy.
Do any of you waveriders have a friend or family member who
regales you with glorious tales of clearance/bargain bin treasure hunts that
always seem to end with some priceless/quality artifact being acquired for an
insanely low price? Me too! Hearing story after story of friends and
associates bringing home hidden musical gems and classic albums for next to
nothing allowed my jealousy to rear it's ugly head. Life was being unfair! Why couldn't I find these inexpensive musical
treasures? Then it dawned on me.
In order to find the discounted booty I was looking for I
needed to change my purchasing behavior.
I needed to shop for music at stores that actually had bargain
bins/clearance racks. Now I know what
you're thinking. How in the world could he
have reached that conclusion on his own?
Believe me I understand. Amazing
revelations such as that sometimes occur to me out of the blue like a gift from
the universe. To make a long story short
I began frequenting a chain of stores called Half Price Books and I immediately
hit pay dirt.
Leafing through a shelf of $1 used CDs I spotted a band name
that caught my attention on the spine of a jewel case. Oral
Groove. Well that's a cool name I
thought! The name of the album was June, and when I picked up the CD I
discovered that it sported an album cover that I would describe as spastic
modern art. Intriguing, and I had absolutely
no idea what kind of music this band played.
Opening the case I found a small photo of three young guys on the back
of the info booklet. One was playing electric
guitar, one was behind a drum kit, and the last was playing bass. Alright, so some kind of rock n' roll. What the heck, it was only a dollar
right? I bought the CD and popped it
into my stereo when I got home. Good decision!
June is a
fantastically enjoyable album! If you
have a hankering for melodic garage rock with a clean modern production then Oral Groove is the band for you. Actually, upon review I wouldn't necessarily
classify OG as a garage rock
band. That vintage sound is definitely
evident, but many of the songs on June
are too punk to ignore. Punk with heavy
folk elements, but punk nonetheless.
Regardless of genre tag this music is overflowing with vocal and
instrumental hooks, infectious energy, and good time cheer.
Waveriders, I have played June many times and I assure you that this album is going to stay
in my active rotation for some time. If
you can track down a copy I would strongly recommend that you pick it up! Not only will you have some groovy new tunes
to listen to, but you'll also inevitably have a 'treasure hunt' story to make
your friends jealous. It's a win-win!
- Penfold
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