If you had always wished the theme song for Better Call Saul was a full length album, The Nude Party Rides On may be exactly what you had dreamt of.
Every week I browse the recent releases and, on a good week, find an album worth buying. The Nude Party — a band I wasn’t aware of prior to earlier this evening — earned a click of the mouse and by the second preview song, I had added Rides On to my cart. They immediately struck me as a perfect blend of 1960s garage rock vinyl and modern lo/fi rock and half way through my first listen of this album, I picked up their first two albums, too.
The obvious comparisons for The Nude Party would be The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, or The White Stripes and there are definitely elements of all those influences in each song but, at the risk of sounding like an insufferable hipster, I’m going to say they sound like a heavier Rosewood Thieves or a hookier The Heavy, both bands you should also check out. They are a hindsight band in that they benefit from having 50+ years worth of examples of what works and are able to incorporate all the best elements into their music.. Their music is simultaneously timeless, of its time, and harkening back to another time.
As a musician who strives to keep things as era-ambiguous as possible myself, everything about this album appeals to me. They sound as if they play on vintage instruments, rarely enhanced with more than the wettest of analog echoes, and mixed in a way that leads me to believe their live set would sound nearly identical to the studio recording. But, most importantly of all, the songs are instantly catchy, recognizable without being rip-offs, and littered with instrumental and vocal hooks. Nearly every song on this record had me wanting more, in particular the opening track Word Gets Around which feels like the long lost son of Diamond Dogs with an equally infectious chorus.
The middle of the album takes a slight dip in energy but the weakest songs on this album are still going to be regular listens without a single skip of the 13 tracks.
When critics complain that rock is dead, they’re just not looking hard enough because bands like The Nude Party are not only keeping it alive but they’re filtering out the garbage and bringing rock back to its roots. Rock is supposed to be fun and exciting and loud and loose and The Nude Party Rides On is all of those things. I can’t remember the last time I bought a band’s entire discography after hearing only a few tracks but I did that tonight and have already checked their calendar to see if they’re playing near me soon (they are). If you like the sounds of clean guitars, overdriven bass, and loud drums, you have to get this album.
If you listen to it, be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts!