(Part 5 of a project to go alphabetically through my CD collection and, for each letter, write about an artist/band represented by a single CD…in the process dusting off some old gems, interrogating the nature of fandom, musing about rock and roll careers, etc. etc.)
Fuzzy guitar, drums I could probably play, earworm melody, keening, harmony-rich vocal that goes high on the word “high”: happy power pop Labor Day! (For my US friends, that is.)
I have no idea how I discovered this CD (“My Favorite Revolution,” surprisingly available on Spotify). I doubt it got any airplay even on the college stations (too retro). Maybe a review in the Boston Phoenix and then a $3.99 take-a-chance purchase at Disk Diggers, my favorite used record store? Of course today two clicks in my pajamas and I’d have it but probably be too overwhelmed by the ten other two-click away new albums I want to listen to to pay much attention…but you’ve already heard that part.
At the time I played the hell out of this. This song is a straightforward swoony love song that could have been a mid-60’s hit for the Grassroots:
It’s all about the way that you laugh, the way that you cry
The way that you walk with your head held high
Every time that you come into view
It’s all about you…
Other songs have a meaner edge and clever wordplay clearly influenced by the master of the verbal hand grenade wrapped in a pretty box, Elvis Costello. And like Elvis, many of those grenades are tossed in the direction of girls who won’t pay attention to the singer:
I’m keeping track of all the things you said you’d never do…
You’re just another victim at bedtime…
Your tender age is your best piece of jewelry…
Unlikely the girls are even paying enough attention to be insulted, but that was always Elvis’s problem too.
My favorite couplet though comes in a song called “Your Own Nightmare”:
Between silence and a drink
Well you just take the fifth…
I stand back in awe, especially because the tune these lines are sung to is so damn catchy!
Eugene’s story turns out to be one of the happier ones so far from this collection of Newsome-One-Hit-Wonders. He went on to become the guitarist in Dwight Yoakam’s band, which he’s been doing for 15 years or so. He’s all over the Internet in guitar player interviews, and also has his own podcast series (sure, I’ll plug it: link to Eugene’s podcast).
And he put out a new album, his first since this one, in 2020. It’s called “A Week of Sundays” and it picks up right where “My Favorite Revolution” leaves off: hooks, harmonies, caustic lyrics. Necessary? Ah, I don’t know, define “necessary” (and then define it again after a few beers on a sunny weekend afternoon). In my time machine I’d be looking forward to Eugene’s upcoming show at Johnny D.’s, where every song would sound like a lost Grassroots hit except for the ones that sound like “This Year’s Model” outtakes.