Public Places by Simins, Russell (2000-10-17?

I've always been a big fan of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and the side projects Simins has been involved in (Boss Hog, Butter 08), but I was blown away by this solo album. Top to bottom, it's a great listen all the way through (and as I discovered on a sixteen-hour trip to St. Louis, great driving music, too). Every song is musically and lyrically complex, alternately brash and subtle, but always clever and usually playful. I hooted with delight when I recognized a sample from "the Sensuous Woman" ('...the testicle is an egg, and I'm very careful not to break the shell..'). This is one of those albums that you find yourself listening to again and again, and noticing little hooks or lyrics you never heard the previous hundred times, while you shake your moneymaker.

see, i am biased . . . jsbx rock my sometimes small little world. russell can beat the hell out of some drums and on this cd, he beats the hell out of me. i have talked to those who hate this album . . . maybe they were just seeking something different. to me, it is like third grade, when we all got to wash the firetruck. its happy, its fun and it will dry off in the end. i would like the entire world to support russell simins, but that is probably not realistic. just remember, if you buy or listen to this cd, just try to enjoy yourself. it really doesn't matter in the end anyway.

In many ways this comes close to being a standard adolescent white-boy pre-rap-thrash hard rock. The opening track features a woman explaining how to er, perform (...) as the music pounds away. The very next track is a three-chord anthem about getting it on in public places with a woman who "likes girls, but she likes me better" - kind of infantile, but it totally rocks the house. It's all in good fun.But there's also a lot of other styles and stuff on here. Some of it sounds a whole lot like Beck. There's some sampling and scratching and hip hop stuff, and lots of weird sound effects and instrumentation, and some cool background singing ladies (Mio Hatori sounds wonderful on the last track). The lyrics seem to get a little less better(...), but then again they don't really seem to be saying anything particularly special. And um, I hate to be mean, but the biggest problem is how Mr Simins' rather nasal singing voice just drones along annoyingly despite every vocal effects trick applied.Altogether okay, nothing worth writing home about, but tracks 2, 5 & 7 are worth a few spins.

Wierd title huh? Well Russell can be described has having the gruffness and blues-type voice of the lead singer of Big Head Todd and the Monsters and the elemental techno sincereity of Moby and the big beats of Fatboy Slim with the rock of Black Crows. Sound wierd? Well Russell seems to do all that on one CD. The first song I heard and my favorite so far is "Comfortable Places", it has a passionate guitar riff, played by Russell, and his soothing vocals accompanied by some backup singers who are full of just what the song is, soulfulness. There hasnt been a fusion of styles like this since maybe Moby or whne Stying decided to go from pop of Police to jazz elements. It sounds restrictive and confuzing but his vocals and his fundamental style of song structure fits very nicely, im ny opinion. Definitely something to nod your head to. Sing it brother....

This record is absolutely delicious... no weak moments, only pure energy. Altough it's not a chef d'oeuvre, this album is very rythmic and pretty cool to listen to. I'll give a 5/5 for the fun factor...See ya