By Henry Lipput
Do you remember Evelyn Wood? She invented the concept of speed reading, and commercials for classes to teach the technique were on television all the time.
Well, The Hangabouts remember and namecheck her in the terrific pop song "Evelyn Wood" on their very fine new album Kits & Cats and Saxon Wives. In the song, a man is concerned his girlfriend is taking things a bit too quickly for him: "Evelyn Wood / What's the hurry, babe / We're going faster than I think that we should / And Evelyn could / We just slow it down." The song ends with a solo bass riff that reminds me of Squeeze's "Another Nail In My Heart" from 1980's Argybargy.
John Lowry, Gregory Addington, and Chip Saam are The Hangabouts from Detroit (with a little help from their friends including a guest vocalist, three drummers, and mastering by The Legal Matters' Andy Reed) and Kits & Cats and Saxon Wives is their second album.
The album starts out with two tracks that are a bit different than the power pop I expected from the band (but cool songs nonetheless). The title song could have been a Colin Moulding track from XTC's English Settlement or Mummur. The upbeat and melodic "Cricket Time" is a very mid-period Kink-y song (perhaps from Something Else?)
Things settle into familiar Hangabouts territory with Molly Felder, from the band Swan Dive, lending vocals to the male-and-female duet of "Sinking Feeling." And the beautiful pop tune that is "Twelve Songs" is "all about Emily and Emily's world” and trying to find a place in it.
The wonderful "Taking You To Leave Me" and "Too Hot To Sleep" remind me of songs from The Fountains of Wayne's great Welcome Interstate Managers album like "Hackensack" and, especially, "Valley Winter Song." In fact, it was The Hangabouts' vocal and musical resemblance to the Fountains that I heard, and liked a lot, on their first album.
The acoustic guitar (not unlike George Harrison's work on "And I Love Her") and quiet vocals on "Sensation Overnight: are lovely. And the final track, "Follow The Sunshine," is a gentle number with some swell slide work by guest guitarist Ken Greene.
Kits & Cats and Saxon Wives is out now on Futureman Records.
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