Junkie Jones

Dear music fans,

I’m ashamed to say that I have failed in bringing you all the “obscure east European ’70s rock” that you so richly deserve. Thankfully, my quickly-becoming-favorite friends at Rooftop Records have sent in Leroy Hanghofer’s “White Trash.”

This CD is totally fun and funky. The European rock samples twisted into the songs work great. The CD is UP - lots of boogie, suave disco from the continent and a nice touch of punk. Honestly - except for one song - it is pure fun and I keep finding myself plugging it back in the CD player instead of moving on to my next review.

And you know how great your voice sounds when you’re singing in the bathroom? How, if she could only hear you, Aretha would be giving the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. you deserve? Well, this group of DJs record almost all their music in the bathroom of Gomma studio and better yet, they invite some fabulous female singers in to add vocals that range from hilarious to inspired. Did I mention they were usually drunk? And sometimes forget they’re supposed to be singing in English?

My favorite song of the jane-genre is “Bathroomboogie.” Next is a tune with the vocals sped up until they sound like a child’s voice using some decidedly unchildlike expletives. It made me laugh out loud.

The song “H-Boy” is a tragic ode to the heroin lifestyle and the singer’s boyfriend’s death, dismissed as just another loser OD’d. This is the one song I mentioned that wasn’t fun. It’s haunting and sad and you know it happens repeatedly, every day, the world over.

I can’t leave “White Trash” on a down. It’s so funky and fun, I recommend it to anyone who likes their music collection to include flashback disco/flashforward funky techno that can make them laugh. Who wouldn’t want that?

Find “White Trash” at www.amazon.com by searching Leroy Hanghofer.

RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.