Electric Sweat

by

The Mooney Suzuki

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I don't care what anybody says, these guys sound like the Flamin' Groovies: guitar driven, R&B-based garage rock slightly out of step with the times. And yeah, the Mooney Suzuki showed up alongside a spate of other garage revivalists, but there's something I can't quite identify that sets them apart (not above, just apart) from bands like the White Stripes and the Strokes. The whole affair sounds very unselfconscious; even the stuff that should sound forced, like the chorus from "Young Man's Mind," comes off naturally. Even the really corny material, the ballad "Oh Sweet Susanna" and "Natural Fact," don't make me cringe -- obviously, the band's grimy garage band pose is studied, but it fits like a glove. I still think the Flamin' Groovies analogy comes closest to describing these guys: the Groovies rocked like it was 1967, in 1971, blissfully ignoring the fact that popular culture had passed them by. I guess I can see the Mooney Suzuki generating a considerable buzz for a year or two, then dropping more or less out of sight while continuing to make strong records. In summation, then, this album sounds like a foundational recording from an also-ran with a well-deserved cult following.