Search - Mother Hips :: Part Timer Goes Full

A Mother Hips must listen!

04/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Part-Timer Goes Full, the follow-up album to the Mother Hips' first album, Back to the Grotto, is a fascinating look into the history of this tremendously talented, yet underplayed band from Chico, CA. With a bit more funk and semi-psychedelic blues, Part-Timer is definitely harder-rocking, as well as a little darker, than the Hips' later albums(Shootout, Later Days, and Green Hills of Earth), which are probably easier to listen to if you are a beginner to the Mother Hips. But this does not detract from its excellence. The songs range from such topics as anorexic supermodels in "Magazine," to the imfamous weed that plagues deep, dark canyons: "Poison Oak"--a song as intoxicating as the plant is noxious. The Mother Hips' tunes also range greatly in style and mood, from the rocking, angry break-up song of "Shut the Door," to the slightly softer--and eerier--"Trunk Box." "Afternoon After Afternoon" and "Tehachapi Bloodline" remind one of days spent in the familiar mountains and deserts of California. But for me, the two stand out tracks of this stand out album would have to be "Are You Breathing?" and "Showing it All to Bad Marie." With the alternations of tempo changes and intonations, the two songs are diverse, complex and a pleasure to listen to. Many words could be used to describe the songs of this band--except boring. Listen to any of the music from this rock group from California and you'll soon find that much of the music that is on the radio today is often bland and tired, a far cry from the fresh and diverse music of the Mother Hips, that, sadly, still gets almost no attention from the music industry. So, if you are a fan of good rock music and are still unfamiliar to the Mother Hips, do your ears a favor and pick up this or any of their other CDs and listen--you will not be disappointed."