The Judes “All That Is The Judes”
Cory, Jim and Mike are three lads from Winnipeg, Canada who formed a pop band with a soft edge and subtle harmonies. Opening with the somber “Bide Your Time” it’s got just a touch of slide guitar and ghostly backing vocals. The upbeat “Better Off Alone” is a bit more traditional in the early Beach Boys mode. Especially “Summer Days” with it’s “ooh ooh” vocals, handclaps and Dick Dale styled riffs.
It gets better when the band leaves the template behind, “Someone Like You” is a great tune. The production is very sparse, and that lets the boys harmonies shine, like on “Love The World.” But that technique (great for ballads) doesn’t quite work on “Beautiful and True” – a catchy, well written gem that literally begs for the Phil Spector treatment. The lightness reminds me of The Yellow Balloon and First Class. The album has no filler and its full of sunny innocent sounding songs, so if you ever wanted a younger band to sing about girls on the beach The Judes will suit you just fine.
John Moremen “John Moremen’s Flotation Device”
Multi-instrumentalist and composer John Moremen has performed with Half Japanese, Roy Loney and the Phantom Movers, the Orange Peels and the Neighbors, but this is his solo LP debut. He has a sweet little EP that flew below the radar in 2002, but here Moremen does something most would not — an all instrumental album.
And rarely have I heard one this good, “Floatation Device” is a great opener, with a riff that would make Duane Eddy jealous. “Stay Inside” is a great tune, you can almost hear the lyrics (if they existed). The guitar techniques are rooted in traditional garage and rock, but the melody lines are extremely inventive. Highly recommended!
John Moremen had a some other releases before the 2002 Bus Stop EP.
My favorite is 1997’s And The Sun Shines (PopStatic), which contained 6 songs and landed on several best-ofs (including mine) posted to the Audities-List. He had 2 other more limited releases, one 7-songer in 96 recorded in California called Punch Me In, and a full length self-titled record recorded back east in 1991 (post-Neighbors).
The link to this review was sent to me by a friend today. Never heard The Judes before. Really liked the grooves and the casual feel overall. The first three songs posted were really homespun and personal. The singer strikes me as someone without arrogance or a big ego, so rare to hear these days. No pretense or fake British accents. Refreshing indeed.