5 out of 5

Label: 54’50 or Fight!

Producer: Houston, Dave Gardner (mastering)

Ah, a tried and true rock record.  Not a throwback, not some electro mish-mash, not overly testosterone laced or lo-fied for effect.  Just rock.  Done right.  This makes some of the discs’ quirks not only tolerable but fitting within the album’s context – our lead singer uses a forced trill of every sentence-ending word, and the album has a couple stopping points of noise effects used as lead-in ‘tween tracks.  Normal enough, except for the like minute long nigh-silence before the ripping ‘I’m a Girl’… But that’s just it – instead of filling like overly clever filler, these moments end up being exactly the kind of separation needed to make each 4 minute track feel epic.  You can accept every build and release because they’re all given equal treatment as ‘full’ songs, but by the same token not so crammed together as to be exhaustive.  To the vocals, despite the vibrato thing, it’s sung at a pleasant pitch and the words not only make sense but find the right sing-along blend of ‘i get it’ without being overly simple or cheesy.  The production is interesting – nothing really rocks too hard, to be quite frank, but this feels like evidence of leveling the playing field being the right match for the band.  Some groups need a bit of fussing to give it energy; Houston is certainly doing some head-banging when the riffs get rolling, but there’s also a steady confidence to their playing – as in not balls-to-the-wall.  By deciding to let most of the levels float in the mid-range – keys, effects, bass, vocals – we can appreciate the ‘full band’ sound, another element that’s often missing from the showmanship found on a lot of modern ‘rock’.

Looking back over this review, I’ve used the term ‘full’ a couple times.  Yes, that’s the takeaway.  I don’t think there’s anything on ‘Bottom’ to shock a listener, and it’d pass by as radio fare if you walked into a store and heard it playing.  But when plugged in, there’s such warmth and richness to the presentation that it quickly evolves out of that murky realm and climbs into catchy, into unshakeable.  I’ll find myself humming the harmonies from these tracks at random, then get the thirst to listen to the whole album… which you always can because it is so well rounded.

Mad credit to the 54’40 label, when it existed, for recognizing good music regardless of genre tags.  Houston might be typical rock that wouldn’t have found a place on a major but isn’t, on the surface, ‘unique’ enough to easily bid for the namebrand indie labels.  And yet it’s effects are longer lasting than anything that’s been on the cover of Spin in years.  Such is the world, we suppose.  If you like riffs that make you want to sway, close yours eyes. and sing while strumming your imaginary guitar to your imaginary fans… yeah.  Houston.