Staring at the decidedly '80s-esque cover to the new album by Sexton Blake, entitled Sexton Blake Plays The Hits, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. Now, I’ll get in albums to review that are by artists I’ve never heard of on a regular basis, but rarely are they wrapped in such an interesting and stylized homage to the decade that was the stomping ground for my teenage years.
Intrigued, I flipped the CD over and gave the track listing a look. It was at this point, for those interested, that I found myself flipping the jewel case back and forth a bit and chuckling to myself. Not only was I apparently fated to review an album by an artist I’d never heard of, but I was going to get to do so via songs that have a personal space in the sonic tapestry of my life.
To see if you’d be as intrigued as I was, here is the track listing:
- Hungry Heart
- Bette Davis Eyes
- Young Turks
- Making Love Out Of Nothing At All
- I Need Love
- The Logical Song
- Oh L’Amour
- Girl You Know It’s True
- Rush Rush
- Daniel
- Evil Woman
- Live In A Northern Town
- Human Nature
After having admitted that, I’m not ashamed to admit that my first few listens to the album found me wandering around the house with my headphones on, while making confused faces to myself as I sang along with the music. Instead of something bold and brash and as iconically '80s as its artwork, you see, Sexton Blake Plays The Hits is probably the mellowest minimalist trip down memory lane that I’ve ever gone through.
Also, it turns out that Sexton isn’t the name of some indie artist with a fetish for decades gone by, but it instead a band with a talent for stripping iconic songs from decades gone by into their simplest form. Hailing from their temporary homes in Portland and Brooklyn, Josh Hodges (vocals/guitar), Ryan Bjornstad (keyboards), Thom Homolya (bass), and Tim Edgar (drums) are Sexton and Sexton are they.
Article comments
1 - Ryan Biornstad
Thanks for the blog, it was a nicely rounded review. Just wanted to let you know that we DO have our own material. The first album is self-titled, on Expunged Records. Check it out if you liked the covers. We did the cover album as a favor to the owner of Expunged Records, Anthony Davis. Keep up the great reviews.