Fit and the Conniptions – ‘Bless Your Heart’ (album / unsigned review)
Wayne Myers is one of the many older musicians- including Neil Young’s wife- who have recently emerged to take rock’n’roll back from the young pretenders. Lacking the relentless self-belief, delusional revolutionary zeal and fashion consciousness of the latest new wave of new wave, these mature rockers love their influences and are rarely ashamed to reveal them. Bless Your Heart is old-fashioned rock’n’roll: from the moody ‘Too Many People’ through to a melodramatic ‘Freezeframe Shutters’, Myers rarely takes himself too seriously, even though his pastiches are musically spot-on.
Fit and the Conniptions are at their best in the intense moments: ‘Fuck and Argue’ reaches for a lightness it never quite achieves, although Myers demonstrates a rich tenor on the wandering verses. The angular funk of ‘Storm’s Over’ gets weirder and better with every listen, and opener ‘Too Much Long Time’ is a rockabilly winner. ‘Got My Modem Working’ is an odd-ball seduction song that jerks and belches like a lecherous geek, the punchy guitar and lurking organ balanced between sensuous and funny. The humour does undermine the focus- Myers is also an amusing cartoonist, and his quirky wit distances him from his rocking stories.
Quite obviously a splendid advert for a brilliant live show, Bless Your Heart isn’t gripping. It is a fun half an hour and another example of rock’n’roll being put to ends others than egotism and false-consciousness. The joy and release of rock’n’roll is far more clearly expressed here than on any number of fashionable, serious releases. If the quirky humour prevents Fit from ever being taken seriously, it also guides Myers away from horrible pretension and towards accessibility.
By Gareth Vile
Label: Unsigned
www.myspace.com/fitandtheconniptions
Fit and the Conniptions are at their best in the intense moments: ‘Fuck and Argue’ reaches for a lightness it never quite achieves, although Myers demonstrates a rich tenor on the wandering verses. The angular funk of ‘Storm’s Over’ gets weirder and better with every listen, and opener ‘Too Much Long Time’ is a rockabilly winner. ‘Got My Modem Working’ is an odd-ball seduction song that jerks and belches like a lecherous geek, the punchy guitar and lurking organ balanced between sensuous and funny. The humour does undermine the focus- Myers is also an amusing cartoonist, and his quirky wit distances him from his rocking stories.
Quite obviously a splendid advert for a brilliant live show, Bless Your Heart isn’t gripping. It is a fun half an hour and another example of rock’n’roll being put to ends others than egotism and false-consciousness. The joy and release of rock’n’roll is far more clearly expressed here than on any number of fashionable, serious releases. If the quirky humour prevents Fit from ever being taken seriously, it also guides Myers away from horrible pretension and towards accessibility.
By Gareth Vile
Label: Unsigned
www.myspace.com/fitandtheconniptions
ALL RSS FEEDS