|
Randy & The Bloody Lovelies
Lift
(Cheap Lullaby)
First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2005, Volume 12, #11
Written by T.J. Simon
Los Angeles’ Randy & The Bloody Lovelies is the musical vehicle of Randy
Wooten, who crafts ’70s-style piano rock in the tradition of Billy Joel and Paul
Williams. Wooten is unquestionably a very good pianist with a voice well-suited
for his original compositions. Lift, the group’s second disc, begins with
its strongest number, the ultra-catchy Red Carpets, which is followed by
two other winning tracks: New Disguise and Why Ya ’Spose.
Throughout the record, his backing band sounds terrific, particularly Lee
Thornburg’s excellent trumpet solo on Twilight Kids. Nevertheless, things
go downhill rather quickly when the ensemble attempts its down-tempo numbers,
such as Wondrous Things and the meandering, but thankfully short, And
I Do.
For the record, there is nothing that is particularly edgy or original about
Randy & The Bloody Lovelies. One recalls the manner in which Ben Folds Five
reinvented piano rock in the ’90s and made the sub-genre cool again, but that
doesn’t appear to be on Wooten’s agenda. Therefore, the extent that people will
enjoy Lift can be gauged by how satisfying they find Billy Joel’s output
from the ’70s.
Cramming 14 tracks into 45 minutes, Lift feels a lot longer as
Wooten’s vocal delivery begins to wear thin by the disc’s midpoint. In addition,
many of the songs during the latter half of the album recall compositions from
the 1976 children’s movie Bugsy Malone, which featured music composed by
Williams, and the end result is that most of the effort just sounds tired and
dated. 
Lift is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005
The Music Box
| 
