When you’re faced with a pretty girl who’s gone insane under a “hypnotized sky of confusion rising over your town” what should you do? How about turning to Outrageous Cherry for a good dose of pysch-pop abandon, it’s sure to get you humming along even in a “Detroit Blackout”. The new album, Our Love Will Change The World, by Outrageous Cherry sheds their more outré psychedelia for honey dripping chords and it results in their best album since Out There In The Dark.
Matthew Smith sure keeps himself busy. He plays with alt-country band The Volebeats, has performed on records by Saturday Looks Good To Me and His Name Is Alive, and has produced albums by The Go, Kim Fowley, and Slumber Party. The guy must sweat music. Luckily he saves the best for Outrageous Cherry. Larry Ray supplies some fuzzed out guitar, Courtney Sheedy supplies dive bombs on bass, and Carney Gustafson supplies more backbeat than Neil Peart using only a snare, floor tom, and tambourine.
The album gets off to a rousing start with trumpet fanfares sparking “Pretty Girls Go Insane” to the power pop heights. We quickly get brought down with “(You’re Not) A Nice Girl” with some menacing Larry Ray guitar in nice contrast to Smith’s vocals that bewail a girl who’s “always so sinister.” These Detroit rockers could pass for British citizens on the effervescent “Why Don’t We Talk About Something Else”; for some reason knickers, Revolver, and umbrellas comes to mind. If you’re worried that Outrageous Cherry has gone over to the pop side too far, “You’re A Reflection Of Infinite Chaos” should dispel that worry with burbling synthesizer and lyrics that will hit you square in the head after the high is gone. If you like to play spot the influences, how about the Everly Brothers harmony style on “Calling”; when Gustafson and Sheedy join with Smith on the chorus the song really shines.
What’s really amazing about Outrageous Cherry is their ability to overcome mere revivalism with their psychedelic garage pop. While, their material would fit in on any Nuggets compilation it still manages to sound new today even when it’s drenched with reverb and fuzz pedal feelers. Our Love Will Change The World is available on Rainbow Quartz and while it probably won’t change the world it will definitely make your ears happy. Outrageous Cherry will perform at South By South-West on March 19th along with other Rainbow Quartz label mates. It should be an incredible night of music.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Some interesting CD covers there.
2 - Eric Olsen
I have that last Outrageous Cherry album from Del-Fi's brief power-pop era and love it - glad to hear about he new one. Thanks Wally!
3 - elliott
Great review, Mr. Bangs. I'm looking forward to getting this one. I loved their previous efforts - Supernatural Equinox and Book of Spectral Projections. I'm definitely gonna have to catch them at SXSW next month.
If Outragreous Cherry use any digital recording techniques they certainly hide it well underneath layers and layers of spring reverb, multi-tracked vocals and phase-shifters! Far-Out!
4 - Temple Stark
>>When you’re faced with a pretty girl who’s gone insane under a “hypnotized sky of confusion rising over your town” what should you do?
Funny you should ask. Just the other day I had to seriously pinder - Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?
WB,
I moved this up and over to Advance.net, which includes these places.
Potentially read by hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Thank you for the post. - Temple Stark
5 - Angela Chen Shui
Thanks for the post and the concert info..
Is that 'love' toothpaste at the top of the covers?
6 - carey
It's Love "Gum" silly! please check out the west coast tour dates at www.rainbowquartz.com for april-may!
Thanks, Carey OC
7 - Wally Bangs
You would think that being the big Kiss fan I am (plus being a lover of puns and homage) I would have pointed out the "Love Gum" - "Love Gun" connection. At least it looks that way to me now. I heard that OC rocked the house in a major way at SXSW.