Milestones: 'Mothers Milk'

[Our series of posts on albums, movies, etc that celebrate significant anniversaries this year continues. - KJ]


We'd heard quite a bit about the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the '80s but didn't pay much attention. In 1989 Mother's Milk changed that--as they used to say at the time--with the quickness.



Recorded after the OD death of guitarist Hillel Slovak and departure of guitarist Jack Irons, Milk introduced what is the band's best-known and most durable lineup: vocalist Anthony Kiedis, and bassist Flea, alongside guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith. (However, Slovak and Irons appear on a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic "Fire" and Fishbone drummer Fish plays on "Taste the Pain".) It's also their last album for the EMI label--they would subsequently sign to Warner Bros and remain on that label for 2 decades--and one that benefits from the perspective of listening to it two decades removed from its original release. (A remastered version with bonus tracks, and liner notes by Flea, was issued in 2003.)

Going back to this one, what becomes readily apparent is how much boundless energy and humor these punk rockers with a deep love for Hendrix and P-Funk displayed back then, as well as how far from their eventual superstardom--if not chronologically--they seemed at the time. (The chorus for "Pretty Little Ditty" begs "put us on MTV / all we really need / begging on our knees / please, please, please, please, please" and the song itself ends with the guitar intro from Guns 'n' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" to seemingly prove both their desperation and commitment.)

Like every RHCP album, Milk is an uneven affair. And while the production isn't hair-band dated, it hasn't aged that well. (Seriously, what was up with all that reverb?) Regardless, there's a bunch of fun tunes on here than more than make up for it. Among them: lead-off track "Good Time Boys"; a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground"; a humorous ode to their favorite b-baller ("Magic Johnson"); "Sexy Mexican Maid"; and the aforementioned, excellent "Taste the Pain", which was used quite effectively during a post-party driving scene
in the classic teen movie Say Anything, also released that year.

For better or worse, depending on your taste, Mother's Milk is both the blueprint for the Peppers' massive success--it was followed by the blockbuster BloodSugarSexMagik album just two years later--and undoubtedly, one of the touchstones of what was to be the alt-rock boom of the following decade.

New Releases: Them Crooked Vultures

THEM CROOKED VULTURES
self-titled
[DGC/Interscope/Universal]

After embarking on a series of summer dates to garner some notoriety for the band and their unreleased music, the self-produced debut by this newest supergroup arrives in the wake of much hype and lofty expectations. Does it deliver? For the most part, yes.

Unsurprisingly, Them Crooked Vultures is definitely the sum of its parts: it's hard not to hear the individual talents and characteristics of vocalist/guitarist Josh Homme, bassist John Paul Jones, and drummer Dave Grohl, as well as the bands in which they made their respective names, namely Queens of The Stone Age, Led Zeppelin, and both Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. It's also not much of a revelation to discover that the music included herein owes a big debt to the hard-nosed, blues-influenced late '60s/early '70s rock and roll that these guys have seemingly always worshipped or, in the case of Jones, helped popularize in the first place.

As for the songs themselves, it's quite a thrill to hear the trio gel on tracks like the quite excellent "Mind Eraser, No Chaser", the greasy groove of first single "New Fang", the monster stomp of "Elephants" and the Cream-influenced "Scumbag Blues". Not all of it works, though: "Reptiles", "Warsaw", and "Caligulove" are decent but, individually, rarely rise above a collection of cool riffs; the QOTSA-like titled "Interlude with Ludes" is a nice change of pace but not much more than that. Meanwhile, the Nine Inch Nails-meets-Masters of Reality "Gunman" is the band's lone concession to anything resembling modern rock music and yields about average results.

History has taught us that often times supergroups never turn out as well as they do on paper, reducing a possibly interesting collaboration to a vanity exercise meant to give its participants a holiday from their day jobs. Them Crooked Vultures is too good to rank anywhere near that low. But while they are not the pinnacle of this kind of project either, the promise of their debut album is enough to warrant and expect more music from them in the not too distant future.

Highlights: "Mind Eraser No Chaser", "New Fang", "Elephant", "Scumbag Blues"

Idolator, RIP

One of the music/pop culture blogs we check out on a regular basis, Idolator, has gone thru what looks to be--in our opinion--a quite detrimental transformation, from an across the board, interesting read to mainstream pop, chart-chasing/gossip guide. With the reduction in contributors a few months ago and the recent resignation of editor Maura Johnston, we had a feeling something fishy was up. We were right; and it sure does stink.

Good to look to Johnston in her future endeavors. And as soon as we find out where their list of the worst song of the decade pops up--Idolator has discontinued it--we'll be linking to it.

Steven Tyler Walks 'That' Way?

This should be the perfect opportunity for Aerosmith to break up, having long ago ceased being a truly creative entity and just a touring money-printing machine. And now that Steven Tyler wants to take a sabbatical, why don't they make it permanent?

A new singer would be an oh, so sad turn of events, no matter how good the guy turned out to be. One thing we have learned over the years is when the singer wants to chill and the band wants to tour, the latter always get their way. For better or for worse; mostly the latter. Right, Journey?

Darius Rucker's Dubious Acheivement

So, the former Hootie and the Blowfish vocalist has been nominated for two Country Music Awards, and could be the first African-American performer identified as a country artist to win in the Best Male Vocalist category since Charley Pride won in 1971.

Good for him. But if not exactly a hollow victory, it would be a bittersweet one: Rucker's brand of country--as clearly evidenced by his most recent, platinum-selling Learn to Live [Capitol] album--is just more of the pop-rock with a twang that passes for country music these days.

Happy 40th, Sesame Street

What We've Been Reading: Wareham's Bummer

DEAN WAREHAM
Black Postcards: A Memoir
[Penguin Press-2008]

When we finally got round to sifting thru our pile of promotional copies of books from last year, we got to reading the purported memoir by the Galaxie 500/Luna front man, and remembered something a dear friend and fan of the latter once told us:

"You know, one of my favorite bands, Luna had a bunch of albums, very loyal fans, got to travel outside the U.S. quite often, had their music on NPR, movies, the Late Night show and yet kept complaining about how difficult it was for them. I had a problem making sense of that but then I got it. They wanted to hit it REAL big and big is so subjective.

I think Luna was wrong. They were successful in my eyes. It seems that where so preoccupied with making it real big that they forgot to enjoy the ride. That's too bad."

Yea, there's plenty of that in Black Postcards, which reads more as a tour diary+ than as a memoir. Throughout, Wareham moans and gripes about a lack of success; rags on artists he dislikes, while delving into his fair share of hypocrisy (calling Guns 'n' Roses "pigs," but later has Luna cover their "Sweet Child O' Mine" in the hopes of landing greater exposure for the band); and sprinkles in relatives--particularly his drug-addicted brother Anthony--as phantom characters in a futile attempt to make things a bit more engaging.

In the end, Black Postcards reads like the written word version of much of Wareham's music: not too loud, not too intense, rather whiny and only of interest to anyone who has a predisposition to liking it. Not a bad read, but not a terribly stimulating one, either.

Song of the Day: "Godzilla"