Hay is a one-man band from Australia who plays live with a double-necked guitar/bass that he loops with various pedals to set up a mighty wail of blues/rock guitar noise. On this album he plays drums, bass, sitar, and electronic percussion, using mainly electronics to produce the sound of a real drum kit. Hay's feel-good music has a notable punk/funk edge and he's got considerable chops, especially on slide guitar, and an over the top vocal approach that makes him sound like a party animal. As you might expect from the album title, Hay also has an irrepressible sense of absurd humor, although he does get relatively serious once a while. On "Friend," one of the more sedate tunes on the disc, he gives us a slow, funkified blues with stuttering James Brown-influenced guitar accents and a wall-shaking bassline. It's a salute to a pal who got him through some hard times, but adds a promise of a drunken binge. Think George Clinton meets J.J. Cale. "Get Me Some" gives the details of a New York City snack attack that leads Hay to the portals of a pizza joint. He salutes thin crust pizza using slashing acoustic slide and crunchy rock chords. "Deep Fried Satisfied" describes Hay's ambivalence about fast food. He'd like a salad, but the chicken tastes so good, even as he ironically describes its affect on his arteries. While the rest of the songs are not about barbecue or fried chicken, they are greasy in that good, ol' fashion, down-home way. He rails about dishonest used car salesmen on "Don't Give Me That," the tribulations of trying to pay bills over the phone on the stomping "On Hold," and sings the praises of true love on "Heading Home" and "Miss You So." The most surprising track is a cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You," an explosion of slide guitar delivered over a primitive drumbeat. Hay delivers the lyric as a staccato rap, then closes with a quiet moaning chorus that takes the tune back to the Mississippi Delta.
© j. poet /TiVo