Pacific Dust

Albenrezension

Early in their career, it looked like San Francisco-based roots rockers, the Mother Hips, was "the horse to bet on," so to speak, as they made fans out of such renowned gentlemen as the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson and super-producer Rick Rubin — the latter of whom was so impressed with the group that he signed them to his label, American Records. And while the Mother Hips have certainly carved a niche for themselves throughout a string of albums, they never managed to follow the likes of Wilco up the charts. But they continue to soldier on with new releases and tours to spread the word, and in 2009, their seventh studio set overall, Pacific Dust, dropped. It appears to be a concept album of sorts, which deals with music's many facets — first discovering it ("White Falcon Fuzz"), record company politics ("Third Floor Story"), etc. Musically, expect a lot of vintage guitar sounds, Don Henley-like vocals, and laid-back tempos, as heard on "One Way Out," "All in Favor," etc. For smartly assembled and played modern-day roots rock, the Mother Hips are probably the most underrated band out there, with Pacific Dust serving as further proof to this claim.