Search - Graham Day & the Gaolers :: Soundtrack to The Daily Grind

A solid neo-garage album you need in your collection

Jersey Kid | Katy, Texas, America! | 06/16/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Combine the musical tastes of two members of the now-defunct Wild Billy Childish and the Friends of the Buff Medway Fanciers Association with two members of The Woogles and what do you get?



Like most good riddles, it's solved by simple common sense!



The answer: Above average garage rock with a heavy emphasis on 60s British invasion melodies and harmonies.



Graham Day and the Gaolers is a trio made up of Graham Day, Dan Elektro and Buzz Hagstrom, with support on a few tracks by Jonny Barker. The first and last guys were the two bassists of the Buff Medways; the middle two are, as mentioned, in The Woogles.



The 13 tracks on this CD - issued on the UK Damaged Goods label - cause me to suffer a strong attack of intellectual vertigo from the fact that the material is so perfect a replication - without being duplicative, mind you - of the mid-60s that I constantly found myself fighting the urge to conclude it was some lost disc from the period. The effect is heightened by the mild case of DYI/lo-fi production and the inclusion of an instrumental track (South Avenue). With even its very sinews and structure more-or-less identical to the period, one remains gobsmacked with just how fresh and sincere and intense that sort of music can be.



There's no single great track here - no `I Want to Hold Your Hand;' no `Satisfaction;' no `The Kids Are All Right' - but there is a uniformity of content and purpose that makes the disc sublime overall.

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