Keene Brothers

Blues And Boogie Shoes

Recordhead

LP $13.00

06/27/2006

FCS42 / LUNA92LP

CD $9.25

06/27/2006 802685009220

FCS42 / LUNA92

MP3 $9.90

06/27/2006 802685009220

When you combine the talents of two artists Rolling Stone considers to be among the top songwriters of their generation, the results can be impressive, and the ultimate power-pop of The Keene Brothers is as good as it gets. A collaboration between Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard and legendary pop song-smith Tommy Keene, Blues And Boogie Shoes has been in the works for years. The Who-obsessed duo’s debut is perfect-equal parts inventive melody and powerfully-written pop.

“I think there’s a lot of variety on this record,” Keene states, “When we first talked about doing it, Bob told me he wanted straight up “Tommy Keene” music, which I took to mean a typical pop-rock Tommy Keene record.… In the end there are elements of that but also some other interesting musical landscapes such as ‘Death Of The Party’ and the Zepplinesque ‘The Camouflaged Friend.’”

Production on the album is slick, dare we say, hi-fi? Blues And Boogie Shoes could be the perfect soundtrack for a top-down, summertime freedom cruise —especially if played at the recommended volume: loud as hell.