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MP3 Luck and Trouble - Valpo
5 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, ROCK: Classic Rock
Show all album songs: Valpo Songs
Details:
Luck and Trouble is the collaboration of former Refreshments (TV''s KING OF THE HILL theme, "BANDITOS")guitarist/songwriter Brian Blush and Detroit based musician/producer Bob Monteleone. MALFUNCTION JUNCTION was released on Hanzie Records in 2002 to great acclaim and featured a mix of straight ahead rockers ("Attitude", "Worst Case Scenario")and Americana styled ballads like "Say Something" and The Difference.
VALPO (2005)is MALFUNCTION JUNCTION''S follow-up and fulfills on that album''s promise. The opening track, "One Hit Blunder", quickly became one of Brian Blush''s most beloved songs. Any song that starts with the line "I wanna grow up to be an old Ramone, not a middle aged man on a cellular phone" most definately means business! Shortly after that Brian rhymes "Butowski" with "about me". The title is, of course, a play on the phrase "One Hit Wonder", which might be interpreted as a reference to Brian''s Refreshment''s days. With Bob''s Stratocaster hook and sing-a-long chorus with real handclaps, "One Hit Blunder" is 3 minutes of pure pop bliss.
Track 2 is a gorgeous tune that Brian felt sounded great in headphones that''s called, well, "Headphones". It''s a slightly misleading title in that it''s not really a psychedelic, Pink Floyd-ish song. What Brian might have enjoyed about the headphone experience was the extended coda that features Bob''s weeping lead lines panned all over the place over what sounds like a fretless bass playing a part reminiscent of John Paul Jones'' figure on Led Zeppelin''s "Ramble On". The tune itself is early Wilco-ish and features the line "What doesn''t kill her makes her stronger", but the singer turns that idea completely around by the end to "What doesn''t kill me makes me stronger". "Headphones" features some tasty Fender Rhodes work throughout by Bob, who was influenced greatly by Jonny Greenwood''s work with Radiohead, especially on OK COMPUTER''s "Subterrian Homesick Alien". Finally, verses with lines like...
There''s perfume on the postage stamp
From the letter she never sent
and...
Cigarettes on the window pane
Crinkled up cellophane
vividly describe a lady who perhaps isn''t too happy and maybe is indulging in something that isn''t too good for her.
VALPO''s 3rd track, "Flashing 12:00", was the first song Brian and Bob worked on together. Bob was introduced to Brian in November 2000 by Brian''s girlfriend, who was waitressing at a bar that Bob was playing. Brian needed someone to help him record a batch of tunes by the end of the calendar year to fulfill a publishing commitment. This was the genesis of Luck and Trouble. The acoustic guitars and all the vocals of "Flashing 12:00" were recorded that first morning. Flash forward to March 2005: Brian and Bob needed material to flesh out an EP they wanted to sell at a cool gig in Valparieso(Valpo), Indiana. "Flashing 12:00" wasn''t left off of MALFUNCTION JUNCTION because it wasn''t a good song. It just had some timing issues in the middle of the tune. (Since it was the 1st song they played together, they didn''t have any settled work methods, such as recording to a click, a drum machine part. It was soon after this song, probably the 2nd day, that they subsequently always played along with a drum machine for the original track, even if it wasn''t going to be heard in the final product.) Bob solved the timing issues by adding a floor tom part and reverbed snare hits and tambourine during the afflicted middle section and Brian overdubbed a vibey, distorted rhythm guitar part and viola! After only 4 1/2 years, here''s Luck and Trouble''s tune "Flashing 12:00"!
Track 4, "Christmas In County", appeared originally on the Luck and Trouble website during the holidays and was played on various web radio shows. A hilarious tale about a poor fellow pulled over 2 days before Christmas who through various misfortune must spend Christmas in jail. Another example of Brian Blush''s songwriting genius to turn a Chuck Berry styled 12 Bar Blues progression into something quite different and fresh. "Don''t wanna spend Christmas in County, so Santa bust me out of this jail".
Track 5 is called "Rearranging Deck Chairs On The Titantic". It''s known to Refreshments'' fans simply as "Deck Chairs". As an encore at certain Refreshments'' shows, Brian would come out by himself and perform this song. This is the first time it''s been "properly" recorded and features Brian on all the guitars and lead vocal with Bob helping out on harmony and some kind of slapback backbeat. Another clever lyric that basically equates the singer''s financial situation with that of a certain doomed cruiseship''s.
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