Can't Have Nothin' Nice

by

Gear Daddies

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This is one of three albums released by the Minnesotan band, the Gear Daddies. A four-piece band which mixes satire, humor, good rock, and country to form their unique sound. A partnership between guitarist, Randy Broughten, and songwriter/singer, Martin Zellar, that lasted for six years. This album shows off some of their best work and eclectic tastes, and you can hear the band's small club feel.

There is a lot of good music to be found on this album. The Gear Daddies show off their abilities by covering "My Maria" and "Little Red Corvette", both with a hint of country flair to them. Broughten provides a lot of the country sound by playing plenty of slide guitar (which makes for an interesting cover of Prince's song), but can really rock out as displayed on "Party Stomp". Add in Zellar's rough voice and rhythm guitar and the band really takes off. They shine with songs like "Bored and 19", "Strength", "Color of Her Eyes", and "2-18", which they intersperse with less serious music like "Iguana Man", "Party Stomp" and "Black Superman".

The Gear Daddies had fun with their music, and you can hear it in this album. Several of the tracks are just funny takes of songs they improvised on the spot, like "African Killer Bees", or their bit of standup humor ("Chip and Dale"). Although funny, these humor tracks become annoying after the tenth time you here them. Fortunately, there are only four of these tracks on the album. "Can't Have Anything Nice" is a nice thing to have.

The Gear Daddies two original studio albums, "Let's Go Scare Al" and "Billy's Live Bait" are masterpieces of country rock from a horribly overlooked band that deserved a much bigger audience. The posthumously released "Can't Have Nothin' Nice" assembles the band's leftovers onto a single disc. And while it does have some fascinating moments, it is not nearly as strong or consistent as the band's other albums.

One of the drawbacks is that the numeorus live versions of songs from the two studio albums are not substantially different, nor do they much improve on, the original versions. Of the previously unreleased material, the highlights include an ace cover of "My Maria," the positively goofy "African Killer Bees," "Dream Vacation," and another cover, "Black Superman." On the downside, the cover of fellow Minnesotan Prince's "Little Red Corvette" doesn't really work and experimental tracks "Spider Monkey" and "Minnesota Polka" are outright annoying.

Overall, an uneven leftovers collection from one of the best American rock bands few people have ever heard of.