Third and final comeback album from early-60s Northeast rockers
Mike and the Ravens, local heroes of the early-60s Northfield/Plattsburgh rock scene (see Heart So Cold: The North Country ‘60s Scene and Nevermore: Plattsburgh 62 and Beyond), made the unlikeliest of comebacks with 2008’s Noisy Boys and 2009’s No Place for Pretty. Forty-five years after their stomping frat-rock singles made them a Saturday night draw at Rollerland, the band reassembled to revisit and extend their legacy. Amazingly, they still carried the fire and adolescent abandon that made their earliest records so exciting, and even more impressively, they had something new to say with their music. This third, and apparently final, comeback album isn’t as frenetic or savage as their original singles or initial comeback, but lead vocalist Mike Brassard still sings with plenty of wild-eyed grit, the percussion section lays down heavy, dark beats, the guitars add plenty of buzzing riffage, and the rock vibes are extended with strains of blues and psych. The band’s covers of traditional folk tunes, “Jack of Diamonds†and “Pretty Polly,†are a lot more threatening than the versions you’d hear on the summer bluegrass circuit, and guitarist Steve Blodgett’s originals rock hard. The bluesy desire of “Helen Jones†is emotionally flip-sided by the abandoned wreck of “A Real Sad Story,†and a cover of the Dad’s early ‘80s pub-pop classic “Trailer Park Girls†rolls like a freight train. Hopefully the end of the group’s recording renaissance doesn’t spell the end of their reunions for live shows, as these guys are clearly still carrying a lit torch. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com] 