Monday, February 20, 2006

My Top 20 of 2005, #15-Terry Anderson & The Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team


Well it is fitting that we highlight this release during the Olympics. And if "ass-kickin' rock'n'roll" were an Olympic sport, these guys would be bringing home the gold. Did you love Rockpile? Into NRBQ? Then you'll love this release from Anderson & Co, especially now that Nick Lowe has become a "crooner". Anderson is, as he puts it, "in the tradition of singing drummers such as Mickey Dolenz, Levon Helm and whoever that guy in Night Ranger was." This is probably the most "fun" power pop release of 2005, an antidote for whatever might have you down on a given day, so I'm not going to try and overanalyze it. Suffice it to say that although Anderson displays a great sense of humor on many of these tracks, it doesn't end up being "quirk for quirk's sake" like you'll hear with other bands that attempt to inject some levity into their tunes. My personal favorites are "Inez" and "Gityoassupda Road", the latter of which is a constant thought of mine while driving around in my home area of Pinellas County, Florida, which has the double whammy of being the state's most densely populated county while having an incredibly high number of senior citizens on the road.

First of all, you must visit the band's site, and whatever you do, don't click "Skip Intro". And check out Terry's own blog. Then listen to the samples at CD Baby. Then gityoassovato here, or here, and buy the damn thing.

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