A pop cognoscente’s selection of covers
Cover albums invariably say more about the coverer than the coverees. Selecting and sequencing an album of someone else’s songs (that is, making a mix tape) is as an artistic act, but one that’s magnified by the creation of new recordings. Musically, this album doesn’t stray far from Keene’s traditional guitar-heavy pop sound, and so it says more in its range of artists and deep track selections than in its actual performances. The singers and bands Keene covers aren’t necessarily surprising, ranging from early Who, Rolling Stones and Donovan selections, through Big Star, Mink DeVille, Roxy Music and on to Echo and the Bunnymen and Guided By Voices. But the specific songs, drawn from singles, album sides and live recordings, are those of a connoisseur who can find sparkling gems among fields of even more brightly shining diamonds.
Reaching back to the Who’s long-playing debut My Generation, Keene picked Townshend’s brush-off, “Much Too Much,” tough, but not nearly as brutal as the Rolling Stones’ “Ride on Baby.” The latter was recorded in 1965, but held until the 1967 compilation Flowers, where it was buried at the end of side two, following a half-dozen Stones icons. It takes a dedicated fan to hear past the hits to the buried treasure, or in the case of the Bee Gees’ mostly hit-free Odessa to find the moody ballad “I Laugh in Your Face” leading off side four. The 1970s picks are similarly eclectic: “Have You Seen My Baby,” from the Flamin’ Groovies’ Teenage Head, Mink DeVille’s “Let Me Dream If I Want To” from the influential Live at CBGB’s, the understated “Guiding Light” from Television’s masterpiece Marquee Moon, “Out of the Blue” from Roxy Music’s pre-hiatus live album Viva! and “Nighttime” from Big Star’s 3rd.
Moving into the ’80s, Keene covers Echo and the Bunnymen’s non-charting third single, “The Puppet,” and finishes in the ’90s with Guided By Voices’ “Choking Tara.” Though each of the performances adds Keene’s trademark power-pop punch to the originals, the demo quality of the GBV original gets the biggest transformation here, with a fully fleshed-out arrangement of guitars, bass and drums. As noted, the individual  performances aren’t necessarily  revelatory, but they’re not meant to be; this is the Keene-variations, and it’s the collection as a whole that provides the thesis. What makes this work (as well as a lot of fun) are Keene’s finely-honed tastes and the power of his own sound to bring these songs under one umbrella. [©2013 Hyperbolium] 