Jimmy sent me a copy of Crooked Bitch, and asked in a thread if I would give a review, so here it goes.
First off the packaging. The cover shows a gals face with punk sunglasses and dirt all over her, I know its a doll, but it just fits the general mood of the cd. Looking in the liner notes, it becomes obvious that The Farleys is basically two people, Jimmy Danger on guitar, and Rasta Farley on vocals.
They use a couple of drummers and bassist to fill out the roster on the songs on Crooked Bitch, it is a compilation of songs from 2000 to 2006. I love the back cover with the Pic of Rasta, Jimmy and of course the leg doll with the head, that is just classic.
So what about the music? First off this isnt pop music, its sick twisted lyrics and vocals on top of some great guitar playing. I know that The Farleys owe a lot to the Stooges, but after listening, the band that really comes to mind for me is Black Flag. Rasta on many songs just has that Rollins tone to his voice.
Lyrically, the whole thing revolves around Rasta's demented images of his surroundings and life. He uses the word dead over and over in songs, drinking, gals done him wrong, and what he really thinks of them. Now Rasta is no Robert Plant, but I dont think he even cares, but what he does do is get the point of his lyrics across in each and every song, sure some of the lyrics are sophmoric in nature, but this is punk rock to the extreme. One of my favorites is Now Thier Dead, this song is about Rasta taking a drive with the wife and kids at 4 am in the morning, and something goes wrong with the cars brakes and he drives into the river, I cant remember the line exactly, but basically Rasta says Honey I can see not teaching the kids to swim was a mistake, cause now thier dead. Very eerie song, in fact I think this is a different version than one Ive heard before. But that kinda sets the mood for all the songs. Rasta takes no prisoners in his approach, I can only hope that some of the things he describes is just an active imgination and not what really happened, but hers the thing, whether these things really happened or not doesnt matter, cause his delivery makes you believe each and every word.
Like I said if you like happy pop songs, then this cd isnt for you, but if you like blood and guts type themes then it will fall right up your alley.
Now to the guitar work, its funny cause I know from hearing other things that Jimmy Danger has done that he is a very classy guitar player, I mean Ive heard prog rock to boleros from him and he pulls it all off. But on these songs, Jimmy just goes back to the most basic guitar playing. Its just Chuck Berry on steroids, chain saw driven rythyms, tasteful little touches here and there, to spice up the songs. Although Im more of a classic rock, or arena rock styled player, I really appreciate the way Jimmy approachs these songs, he never over plays anything, it just fits, and Ive said more than once on listening to his songs over the years, that if I was doing the guitar work, I wouldnt know how to improve what he does.
Although very elementary sounding garage rock guitar lines, I think this is what kind of made me want to play music, getting that first amp, distortion pedal, cranking it to 11 and just playing chain saw rythyms, big fat chunky Barr Chords. I guess most guitar players will know what im talking about, before you really know any theory, just discovering the power of an electric guitar, thats the feel I get from the rythyms Jimmy plays on this cd. I want to say he plays below his abilitys, but on second thought, his parts are perfect for the songs.
Solo wise there arent many on the whole cd, but on the song Eves, Jimmy does cut loose with a brief burst that just oozes with attitude, and tone. I know Jimmy plays a strat, but most of these songs sound to my ears to be a LP and Marshall, just as basic a sound as you can get.
Jimmy also produces these songs, now as a guitarist, sometimes its easy to lose sight of the intent of songs and highlight the guitar instead of the songs and vocals, but Jimmy balances it out, the production to my ears is flawless, everything just fits, the drum sounds are great, the bass just fits in the pocket of the songs, no mud, just clear tone on all the instruments.
I would encourage anyone here to get in touch with Jimmy and get a copy and support him, I know the cost of making cds, and presenting music, and he doesnt hold back, all the way from the package to the production to the songs themselves. Just a A+ effort all the way.
First off the packaging. The cover shows a gals face with punk sunglasses and dirt all over her, I know its a doll, but it just fits the general mood of the cd. Looking in the liner notes, it becomes obvious that The Farleys is basically two people, Jimmy Danger on guitar, and Rasta Farley on vocals.
They use a couple of drummers and bassist to fill out the roster on the songs on Crooked Bitch, it is a compilation of songs from 2000 to 2006. I love the back cover with the Pic of Rasta, Jimmy and of course the leg doll with the head, that is just classic.
So what about the music? First off this isnt pop music, its sick twisted lyrics and vocals on top of some great guitar playing. I know that The Farleys owe a lot to the Stooges, but after listening, the band that really comes to mind for me is Black Flag. Rasta on many songs just has that Rollins tone to his voice.
Lyrically, the whole thing revolves around Rasta's demented images of his surroundings and life. He uses the word dead over and over in songs, drinking, gals done him wrong, and what he really thinks of them. Now Rasta is no Robert Plant, but I dont think he even cares, but what he does do is get the point of his lyrics across in each and every song, sure some of the lyrics are sophmoric in nature, but this is punk rock to the extreme. One of my favorites is Now Thier Dead, this song is about Rasta taking a drive with the wife and kids at 4 am in the morning, and something goes wrong with the cars brakes and he drives into the river, I cant remember the line exactly, but basically Rasta says Honey I can see not teaching the kids to swim was a mistake, cause now thier dead. Very eerie song, in fact I think this is a different version than one Ive heard before. But that kinda sets the mood for all the songs. Rasta takes no prisoners in his approach, I can only hope that some of the things he describes is just an active imgination and not what really happened, but hers the thing, whether these things really happened or not doesnt matter, cause his delivery makes you believe each and every word.
Like I said if you like happy pop songs, then this cd isnt for you, but if you like blood and guts type themes then it will fall right up your alley.
Now to the guitar work, its funny cause I know from hearing other things that Jimmy Danger has done that he is a very classy guitar player, I mean Ive heard prog rock to boleros from him and he pulls it all off. But on these songs, Jimmy just goes back to the most basic guitar playing. Its just Chuck Berry on steroids, chain saw driven rythyms, tasteful little touches here and there, to spice up the songs. Although Im more of a classic rock, or arena rock styled player, I really appreciate the way Jimmy approachs these songs, he never over plays anything, it just fits, and Ive said more than once on listening to his songs over the years, that if I was doing the guitar work, I wouldnt know how to improve what he does.
Although very elementary sounding garage rock guitar lines, I think this is what kind of made me want to play music, getting that first amp, distortion pedal, cranking it to 11 and just playing chain saw rythyms, big fat chunky Barr Chords. I guess most guitar players will know what im talking about, before you really know any theory, just discovering the power of an electric guitar, thats the feel I get from the rythyms Jimmy plays on this cd. I want to say he plays below his abilitys, but on second thought, his parts are perfect for the songs.
Solo wise there arent many on the whole cd, but on the song Eves, Jimmy does cut loose with a brief burst that just oozes with attitude, and tone. I know Jimmy plays a strat, but most of these songs sound to my ears to be a LP and Marshall, just as basic a sound as you can get.
Jimmy also produces these songs, now as a guitarist, sometimes its easy to lose sight of the intent of songs and highlight the guitar instead of the songs and vocals, but Jimmy balances it out, the production to my ears is flawless, everything just fits, the drum sounds are great, the bass just fits in the pocket of the songs, no mud, just clear tone on all the instruments.
I would encourage anyone here to get in touch with Jimmy and get a copy and support him, I know the cost of making cds, and presenting music, and he doesnt hold back, all the way from the package to the production to the songs themselves. Just a A+ effort all the way.
"A winks as good as nod to a blind man"
