The Willowz - Everyone

The Willowz, whom I have only otherwise known from the Eternal Sunshine soundtrack, is not unlike the Black Lips cd that was just in my car. Garage rock, not as psychedelic>; and the drums were often recorded with the most echo possible.

It's not treading much deeper water than that soundtrack 6 or so years ago. It does seem like they're exploring melody a little more. Also, it looks like singer Richie Follen has come out of some shell, or maybe the producer decided just to get bolder, because he's much more dynamic and much further out in the mix. It's a good thing. It's little more than punk wailing, but but Richie turns left when you expect a right sometimes, and it becomes more interesting.

"I Know" for example, is quite clean. It could be Kings Of Leon at their most raucous. "Destruction" and "Repetition" too are more melodic and upbeat and ripe for a party jam. "Jimmy James" on the other hand is for us beer swilling bastards who want to push over a nerd. If I had to choose, my bully-pulpit in the garage rockness of this album is better served on "Twenty Five" which awesomely adds a subtle barroom piano sounds to follow the chords.

For a swift kick in the Wha-Just-Happened, the Willows pull a damn near Rolling Stonescover with the misspelled, "No Heros". It's got soul, and by "soul", I mean some horns. Definitely worth a listen.

And at 25:34, it's the perfect album length for the new decade. My main complaints with albums that could've been much better is that they tried to max the cd capacity to get people to feel more of a value. Bullshit. The value comes more in this package, where more of your songs are worth hearing. And the Willowz deliver in great style. They have almost completely shed the notion of Jack White late-comers and have shelled out some great West Coast sweaty garage anthems.(4 of 5 stars)