Review : The Asylum Street Spankers CD My Favorite Record

Everyone who writes about the Asylum Street Spankers has three jobs. Give a little bit of the history of the band, explain why they can't be classified, and recommend their live shows. In addition, I'm going to recommend their latest CD, My Favorite Record.

The Asylum Street Spankers are an Austin, Texas based accoustic band who perform everything from vaudeville songs to blues to jazz to torch songs. I keep listening and I keep finding that they don't seem to have any limits, not any that they respect. Lead vocal responsibilities rotate between three strong singers with side excursions by another two.

What they don't have is amplification. Any. This is tough for me as a sound man. All the things I can do to make a band sound better than it is, they don't use. They get the job done without it. And their live shows rock. They have tool after tool to pull out to present a great show to a room full of people and they do it all unplugged.

So, given a band that just doesn't do gear and yet still manages to produce a nuanced, exciting show, what's the CD like? My expectations were pretty high. They have a half dozen or so CDs and EPs, including two live CDs. The CDs have been reminders and advertisements for their live shows.

My Favorite Record is that. But it's more than that. It's like a tribute record to music. Fat, low, brassy blues, cynical lyric-driven ballads, a minor key waltz on a musical saw, jazz, rock, blues, country — the whole album is a love song to music. It's an agressive arguement that musicians don't have to be classified, boxed, and filed under some label.

And it's both musically and lyrically engaging. The album bounces from Breathin', a straight-up blues torch song

"Lovin' you is just like breathing in and breathing out."

to Whatever, a wicked but earnest piece about activism, dedication, social justice, and progressivism and the motives behind them.

"I'd love to hear your world peace plan/Why don't you tell me in my van/We can discuss Camus/Whatever I can do/To get in bed with you."

to a smooth be-bop tune to a twangy country song back to 3 kinds of blues.

If you're looking for a CD with everything, you will find it on My Favorite Record, and you'll find it's really well done. You probably won't find it on the radio: Whammo is not Britney, but that's a good thing. Really. Highly recommended for people with eclectic musical tastes, musicians, and anyone who likes smart lyrics.