#hoodoo gurus

[musickickztoo]

James Baker

March 7, 1954 - May 5, 2025

[kissesfromabove]

Seeing so many signs that the universe and my ancestors are sending me to take my spirituality seriously, i hear yall.

[dustedmagazine]

Field Hospitals — Ethel Green (Subjangle)

Field Hospitals jangle and thump, the romantic overtures of spiraling dual guitars meeting the punk abrasion of straight-up bass and drums. The easiest comparison is R.E.M. but True West is a better one. Field Hospitals’ “Passion Play” is as doomed and tuneful as True West’s “And Then the Rain,” an epic arc of chorus cutting across tangled guitars.

The band is a made up of four seasoned Minneapolis musicians, all of whom have been in bands for years, none of whom have ever sounded exactly like this.The guitarist/founders—Hank Henry and Dan Ganin—came out of math-rock-y Stillwell and hardcore Charles de Gaulle. The rhythm section ofJeff Ball (drums) and Matt Helgeson (bass) were last in post-punk Maps of Norway.

And yet they slip so easily into mid-1980s Paisley Underground sounds, sweet swirling tunes braced by manic pummeling rhythms. “Sister Jane” rocks the hardest and most plaintively, letting the kickdrum boom and the melody twine in a flowery longing. The two guitars play off one another, one of them slashing at chords, the other dancing around them in delicate filigreed flourishes. “The Feeding Ground” veers hardest towards post-punk, with its eerie harmonics and driving, motorik beat, but the vocals pull it back, gently eddying around the hard pulse.

It's hard to remember now, but this kind of sound used to be massive and commercial and ubiquitous on radio playlists. My first thought was the Hoodoo Gurus, whose new wave stutter flowered into lush careening choruses (see “I Want You Back”). Bands like R.E.M. and the Feelies also broke from niche to mainstream in a way that even the best of 2020s jangle rockers — and there are a bunch of them, not just Field Hospitals, but Tubs, the Woolen Men, Ducks Ltd. and RVG to name a few — never will. But just because fewer people will hear the stuttering grace, the doomed romanticism of “Ethel Green,” doesn’t make it less enchanting. Tune and turbulence, instrumental muscle and lyrical sighs, it’s in balance here, though a bit out of time.

Jennifer Kelly

[whitetrashsoul]

[ellieellieoxenfree]

and you can't have your cake and eat it too made your bed, so you know what you can do — don't you?

[guessimdumb]

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The Scientists - Last Night  (1980)

Driving Aussie rock ‘n’ roll from the Scientists, who later mutated into a more “grunge direction.  This song has been described as a cross between the NY Dolls and the Undertones.  Pretty good description. I also hear a bit of their fellow countrymen the Saints.

[albumswhatilistenedto]

[rastronomicals]

The Hoodoo Gurus