Welcome to Review Revue, where every Thursday I dig through the KEXP stacks to share DJ reviews and comments written on the covers of LPs (and occasionally CDs) in the ’80s and ’90s, when the station was called KCMU, the DJs were volunteers, and people shared their opinions on little white labels instead of the internet.
There's a lot I don't understand about this week's offering: Slide a Little Closer, by the long-gone Seattle outfit Boom Boom G.I. First question: What on earth does that name mean? Is it just about explosion noises and GIs, i.e., soldiers? I don't think it's a gastrointestinal reference, but that's what keeps popping into my head. And who are 3/4 of these musicians? Did they go on to form other bands? Are they featured on other album covers I may have posted in this very series? And the biggest question of all: what does this band sound like? Because according to one out of two KCMU DJs, it's either "complete and total shit" or "good stuff." We may never know, but the Internet did reveal to me who one of the four individuals on the cover is: the self-described "folk-funk" singer-songwriter/bassist (by the way, I love a singer-songwriter/bassist - there are not nearly enough of them in the world) who goes by the name Laura Love.
Laura Love, based on my minutes of internet research, has a pretty mind-boggling life story, which makes me want to read her biography. Fortunately, she actually published one! I don't know if it was a source for this brief but spellbinding bio I found on something called jrank.org, but according to James M. Manheim, she described her first band as "loud and bad . . . The first review we got said that we were annoyingly pointless." So, maybe she would have agreed with the first reviewer's assessment below. Regardless, I am utterly intrigued by Ms. Love and look forward to checking out more of her solo work very soon. Oh, and her other book about life with the Occupy movement. What can't this woman do?
"Complete and total shit. From one who knows." [Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem like such a great thing to be who knows complete and total shit.]
"That's bullshit in and of itself. This is kind of raw, kind of bluesy! Often displaying a hard-edged sound. The lyrics are really intense, often more than the music. But there is good stuff here, and somewhat varied musical sounds."
