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The Mother Hips
Kiss the Crystal Flake
(Camera)
First Appeared in The Music Box, May 2007, Volume 14, #5
Written by John Metzger
After the release of Green Hills of Earth in 2001, The Mother Hips
went through an extended period of transition and rebirth, the result of which
is its latest concoction Kiss the Crystal Flake. Much as its title
suggests, the band has continued to shed its Americana-imbued, hippie-rock ways
in favor of more contemporary, power-pop arrangements. Nevertheless, it still
feels as if the outfit is rifling through its record collection in search of
inspiration. The influences of both The Byrds and The Band have been left by the
wayside, while the sway that The Beatles and The Beach Boys once held over the
collective has been turned into mere window dressing. At the same time, The
Mother Hips’ infatuation with Buffalo Springfield has been recast as the driving
chug of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and the entirety of Kiss the Crystal
Flake sounds less like one of the Grateful Dead’s endeavors than it does a
glimpse of Phish in the midst of pouring through its wardrobe of musical
costumes in preparation for a Halloween extravaganza.
At its most adventurous, The Mother Hips smashes its progenitors together in
strange and intriguing ways. On Mission in Vain, for example, the band
builds a bridge that crosses The Beatles with Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Turtles
with Pink Floyd — and surprisingly, it doesn’t sound nearly as dated as one
might expect. Elsewhere, the group conjures images of Dinosaur Jr. backing the
B-52s (White Hills) and dada supporting Hall & Oates (Let Somebody),
though the problem with these amalgamations is that they never quite work. None
of them leave a lasting impression, and they feel like forced mash-ups that were
made in an attempt to find a younger audience in the alternative and indie
scenes.
Nevertheless, Kiss the Crystal Flake isn’t a total loss, though its
successes aren’t nearly as innovative. Instead, The Mother Hips discovers its
heart and soul whenever it plays its classic rock roots reasonably straight. On
White Headphones, the band takes a stab at invoking the swagger of Lou
Reed; on No-Name Darrell, it twists The Beatles into Meddle-era
Pink Floyd, while enveloping the outcome in an alt-rock sheen; and with the
stomping groove of Confirmation of Love, it takes a skewed look at the
tale of divorce that Tom Petty told on Mary Jane’s Last Dance.
Over the course of its career, The Mother Hips has managed to cultivate a
small but loyal following, and Kiss the Crystal Flake clearly is its bid
for attracting a bigger crowd to its scene. Unfortunately, although the endeavor
is passively entertaining, there also is nothing on it that is compelling enough
to make the band’s music stick. As it stands, the set is nothing more than mere
fodder for The Mother Hips’ concerts, where hopefully it will bring more energy
and intensity to its songs. 
Kiss the Crystal Flake is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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