Kiss the Crystal Flake

iTunes Review

Chico, California’s Mother Hips play heartland rock that sounds as if you’ve tuned in an AOR radio station from the ‘70s. Their warm, tight Bread-like harmonies, solid Neil Young guitar tones, and well-schooled songwriting inform the best tracks of this solid comeback album and create a modest déjà-vu buzz as the guitars and organs (from notable Cali-songwriter Jackie Greene on two tracks) pile up like so many Tom Petty albums. (The group had been in various stages of hiatus for the past few years, issuing solo projects and only the 2006 EP Red Tandy). Singers Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono share vocal duties and the gentle shifts from pop to country make for a welcome variety. Whether the band immerses itself in the lazy, wasted vibe of “Let Somebody,” the charged retro-rocking of “White Hills,” or the simple Southwestern gallop of “Not So Independent,” the Mother Hips are that bar band that immediately makes you feel comfortable with new friends that feel as if you’ve known them all your life.