I Ain’t Gunna Work on Maggie’s Perm No More

Let’s talk gay stuff. Its cool, cuz it’s totally mainstream now and even the president has a favourite top.

Yes, I got a pink comb when I ordered
this album. No, you cannot have it.

Hunx "Hairdresser Blues"

In the wake of the new century breakthroughs of The White Stripes, The Strokes and The Hives and nobody else any good, garage rock has slithered back underground while the indie rock bic lighter has shone on Wilco and Radiohead, 80s dance punk, acoustics in the woods and, somehow, still Wilco and Radiohead. The notable exception being a few years back when Pitchfork and Matador huffed and puffed and blew Jay Reatard’s Flying V down hipster throats. Jay did stupid stuff which got him attention - like punching people in the face (I was there, it was kinda dangerous & pretty rock n roll, actually) and doing too much coke, which ultimately killed him – but he was a gifted songwriter and his exciting music was still evolving when he died much too young. Jay also pimped new artists he liked and took young bands out on tour.

Recent deserter from Camp Rock n Roll 

One such band was Hunx & His Punx.

Led by Oakland hairdo-er Seth Bogart’s, H&HP have been pumpsing out some high grade, silly-but-banging garage pop since 2008. 2010’s stellar Gay Singles collected the early 7”s (double entendres abound, sorry) including gems like "Good Kisser", power pop stunner "I Won't Get Under You", early Stones nod "You Better Tell That Girl" and one of my fave singalong songs of the last couple of years “You Don’t Like Rock n Roll” with rad line “you like Morrissey, you like U2 / what the fuck is wrong with you?”. Pay-back for “Hairdresser on Fire”, no doubt. Last year’s Too Young to Be in Love wasn't quite as immediate as the early singles but was a solid full length effort featuring the swell pick up plea "Lovers Lane". 

The just-released Hairdresser Blues signals an unexpected gear change for Seth as the mood turns serious and the lovin and losin feel suddenly very real. For this personal album he’s punked the Punx and plays all instruments but the drums. And while the gum is still fresh on the melodies, the party has turned all dead man’s curve - Bogart brings honesty to this set of songs and yanks his name back from the edge of novelty. This is a significantly risky and ultimately necessary step for Bogart to take to “legitimize” his career rather than re-tell the joke. And it works .. er worx.

Make no mistake though; Hairdresser Blues doesn’t strip out any of the core appeal of Hunx’s music. It is a wonderfully catchy, shaggy shangrila-di-da of an album and it romps and rolls from start to finish. Bogart’s songwriting is sharpening and his musical scope is diversifying. HB would seem to start hopefully enough with “Your Love is Here to Stay”, but said love turns out to be more of a sentence than a blessing. There are not only shades of blues in Hunx’s manic panic pop: the Phil Spector/Jesus and Mary Chain lovechild “Private Room” is about man caves (not beer commercial man caves either), but it’s a straight up gem that will have you singing “I wanna get a private roo-oo-oo-woo-woo-woom” to your mate for the foredoable future.

Other highlights include the insistent Aussie-style popper “Let Me In”, the title track on which Hunx brings the drama with a garage rock update of Beauty School Drop Out & the glam candy ode to yesteryear “Do You Remember Being a Roller” where he croons “everything must change / I guess I just miss the old days”. The show–stopper is “Say Goodbye Before You Leave”, a teary eyed note to his late friend Jay: “I wanna run my fingers through your curls / and we could talk about gurr-hurls / or write a new song together” It’s a personal statement from an over the top personality and just the type of stuff his mentor was tapping into before his untimely death. With this burgeoning confidence, the joke is over and a career is born, one that Hairdresser Blues proves has potential to be a long & (yes) fruitful one. And I’ll drink to that, every time.

______________________________________________________

Thanks for the killer riffs Ronnie,
I forgive you for introducing
us to Sammy Hagar 

Also – I want to tip a cap to Ronnie Montrose, who passed away recently. He was an influential guitar player and band leader responsible for one of my absolute favourite heavy rock records ever. Here is a good piece from CNN with Sammy Hagar talking about his former bandmate and the impact he had on what became the golden era of 80s metal. And, even better, here is a great clip of the original Montrose performing their classic “Bad Motor Scooter” from the first album. RIP, RM.