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Universal Malcontents

Outrageous Cherry

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Album Review

Nine albums in, and Outrageous Cherry still find ways of making their vintage-steeped music sound fresh on Universal Malcontents — by exploring other classic sounds. Matthew Smith and crew know their rock history inside and out, and know how to evoke early to mid-'70s pop and rock atmosphere, from the album's warm, roomy sound to its double-tracked vocals, strutting guitars, handclaps, and piles of piano and organ. There are a couple of quintessential Outrageous Cherry moments of fuzzed-out garage pop with bittersweet melodies and smart lyrics, like the reverb-laden "I Wouldn't Treat My Enemies the Way You Treat Yourself" and the album closer "Memory," which compares memories to horror movies and once again proves this band is expert at putting a sugary, crunchy coating on sour feelings. The rest of Universal Malcontents, however, finds them casting farther afield. "I Recognized Her" borrows a bit of Sparks' and Roxy Music's synth-tinged glam, giving a sharp, sci-fi edge to Smith's always-witty songwriting. Meanwhile, "Anymore" dresses up its hooks in '70s AM pop balladry, another apt setting for Smith's way with song structure and wordplay ("Feels Like Shadows" is also a fine example); "The Song Belongs to Everyone" adds a bit of boogie to its cleverly crafted story of a songwriter compelled to create despite the perils of the music business and anonymity: "I want my 50 percent/Before it's all spent." "Get Out While You Can," a swampy rocker that conjures muggy Detroit summers, hits harder than any Outrageous Cherry songs in recent memory, providing a welcome reminder of just how diverse their sound can be. This is especially true of "Outsider," the lone epic among the rest of Universal Malcontents' classically proportioned two- and three-minute pop songs. Combining Mott the Hoople's good-natured ambling with the improvisations of bands like Amon Düül, the song feels like the sunny, jammy culmination of the excursions the band embarked on with Supernatural Equinox and The Book of Spectral Projections. At just ten songs long, Universal Malcontents' conciseness adds to its throwback feel, but its eclecticism and focus make it another solidly enjoyable album from a band that seems to have nothing but solidly enjoyable albums in its catalog.

Customer Reviews

Ultra-catchy Detroit pop that pines for ‘70s UK sounds

This Detroit band’s been kicking around since the mid-90s, minting a string of albums that span mid-60s garage, bubblegum and California pop, 60s/70s/80s British Invasion, and moody modern fuzz rock, all written thick with catchy melodic hooks. In the same way that the Flamin’ Groovies expanded upon the sounds of the ‘60s, Outrageous Cherry expands on the same base with added waypoints that include the autumnal melancholy of Badfinger, Marmalade and The Association , the glam-cool space-age jokiness of Bowie, Jobriath, Sparks and Slade, revivalists like the Barracudas and Flying Color, and dashes of bubblegum’s bright highlights and psych’s production touches. Several of the tracks, such as “This Song Belongs to Everyone,” have the homebrew heart that was so prevalent on indie power-pop singles on the late 70s. Fans of Shoes, Stars in the Sky, Denny Ward, the Neighborhoods, Heats, Moberlys, Punts, Zippers and the entire Bomp Records catalog will be reminded of the first time you slapped their wax onto the turntable. The band’s ninth full-length offers up superbly crafted slices of pop-rock that are ready for radio of an earlier time, an era lamented in the aptly titled “It’s Not Rock ‘n’ Roll (And I Don’t Like It).” College DJ’s all over the world must surely be lining this up as the third part of a triptych that opens with Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” and Rubinoos’ “Rock ‘n’ Roll is Dead.” Disappointment bred of a decade in the music business also threads through the lost-love song “This Song Belongs to Everyone,” and a general farewell to youth is painted as metaphorical dusk in “Feels Like Shadows.” The band stretches out to eight-minutes for the psychedelic guitar jam “Outsider,” and closes with a realization that fealty to the past may only retard one’s step into the future. There’s irony to be found in retro melodies accompanying lyrics like “you never bring me nothing new” or “your memories won’t make you wise / your memories are a thin disguise,” but with melodies as good as the originals, who really cares? 4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Biography

Formed: 1992 in Detroit, MI

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

Named after a brilliant red hair dye, Detroit's Outrageous Cherry explores the sunnier side of droning, fuzzy indie rock. The band started as a recording project in 1992 but blossomed into a full-fledged group when singer/guitarist/producer Matthew Smith, bassist Chad Gilchrist, guitarist Larry Ray, and drummer Deb Agnolli began performing live in 1993. Outrageous Cherry's wistful noise-pop debuted with a limited-edition 7" of "Pale, Frail Lovely One" on the local Third Gear label. The song's deceptively...
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