[A]ll these songs deserve your full attention.

FULL TILT & SWING
WALTER CLEVENGER & THE DAIRY KINGS
Brewery Records

By Désirée I. Guzzetta

Full Tilt & Swing is one of those rare albums, the kind with absolutely no filler, the kind where you don’t want to skip a song for fear of missing a clever lyric or an original lick. Okay, those kinds of albums are rare for me because I invariably skip over slower songs, being a connoisseur of the faster beats, but even the Kings' ballads are superb.

Here’s why Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings deserve your attention and your hard-earned money: They rock the house. They do it with their lyrical genius (reminiscent of Nick Lowe’s) and their melodic sensitivity. And their guitar rock/bassline/drummin’/keyboard prowess. Damn, these boys are some fine musicians!

The songs are a combo of roots rock and power pop. The album gallops off with the barnburner rock of "Love Don’t Mean Anything" and slows slightly for the poppier tunes "Hold On Tight," "Fast As I Can" and "Jonathan Doe." A breather between the dancin’ is provided by the countryish "Stronger Than That" and the balladry of "I’ll Be The One."

"The Fool Who Used To Be" is nice mid-tempo number that transitions us back into the power pop of "Supermarket Checkout Queen," which is my favorite track, what with its foot-stompin’ beat and its funny-but-astute lines, such as “Well she doesn’t recognize me day or night / ‘Cause she’s busy sliding groceries past that funny little light.” It’s giggle-inducing, but also heartfelt, a neat trick to pull off if you have the chops, which this band does.

Things turn rootsy again with "Not Gonna Bend," then segue into the rock of "The Hurricane," which has another insightful, though not so funny, lyric: “Never talk about the weather / You know I think that it’s a bore / Never talk about the weather until there’s a hurricane at our door.” Another rest is provided in the beautiful melody of "Let Your Hair Down Tonight," then the album finishes as it started, with more barnburnin’ rock, this time in the form of "Radio Sea," a blistering attack on the abysmal state of current radio programming (“Climb aboard this ship / Are you ready for a useless trip?”).

This is a rarity for me, as I’m not in the habit of mentioning every song on an album I review, but in this case, I’ve made an exception because all these songs deserve your full attention. What do you get in return? You get to listen to some of the finest music around. It’s an exchange that’s more than fair, in my humble, lazy opinion.

Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings are: Walter Clevenger (vocals/guitar), Steve Bancroft (guitar/vocals), Henry Clift (bass/vocals), Mike Fernandez (drums), and Wyman Reese (organ, piano). Check out the band's Official Site for info on how to order the album and to learn more about the guys.

Page last updated: May 04, 2004

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