The Yayhoos
Fear Not The Obvious
Bloodshot Records BS082



by William Michael Smith

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, go through the massive tantalizingly slow intellectual buildup during which I impress you with my long-latent vocabulary, then hit you with some subtle lyrics to whet your appetites for some brainy, insightful analysis. Let's just cut the crap and get to the bottom line, OK?

The Yayhoos rock. They aren't pretty, they aren't well dressed, their haircuts suck, they probably don't use deodorant regularly, their orthodontia is questionable, and they haven't spent 80 gazillion dollars making the All-Time Rock Statement.

Au contraire, mon frere, about 5 years ago these four guys scraped some money together and, instead of spending it on weed, whites and wine like real rockers ought, they went to a relative's barn in North Carolina, plugged in some bigass amps, put new strings on their guitars, finished writing some songs they'd been working on, and proceeded to suck some mega-watts from the power grid and transfer the resulting harmonic residues to tape. No pretentious artsy subtlety, no prissy, pretty-boy rock star, no look-how-bulging-my-crotch-looks-in-these-pleather-stretch-pants b.s., just plug it in, turn it up, play it, sing it, record it, press it, put it out. Screw all the superfluous brain-fluff and MTV imagery. Don't you gimme no lines and keep your hands to yourself.

Fear Not The Obvious is an all-star record, but its beauty is in the fact that these guys did it in the anti-rock star mode. This project could have turned ugly with all this talent: Georgia Satellites' front man/white trash sex symbol Dan Baird; former Joan Jett Black Heart Eric Ambel, who now earns his living playing lead guitar for uber-twanger (that's pronounced oobur-twonger, you ignorant, language-challenged redneck!) Steve Earle; songwriting drummer Terry Anderson of The Backsliders, one of the most under-rated southern bands ever; and bassist Keith Christopher, who has played for such widely different acts as Paul Westerberg and Billy Joe Shaver and currently tours with Kenny Wayne Sheppard. The result of this collaboration is a rock record made for house parties and road trips and late night radio. This is music for muscle car radios and eight-track tape players, music for a candy apple red GTO hardtop with a 490 engine and dual exhausts with glass packs. Hell, this album probably won't even play in these little lightweight, aerodynamically perfect, finless, rice-burnin' beer cans we drive today. There would certainly be a danger that Fear Not The Obvious, if played at the recommended volume level for maximum enjoyment, might shatter the windshield or scramble the global positioning system in one of those little Chevy Geos.

This corps of savvy music biz vets doesn't just know how to write solid rock songs, they know how to package their music for full effect. Example? By placing "What Are We Waitin' For" as the first track, The Yayhoos just grab your ears by the throat with bright, brassy, churning '70s arena rock, only better. No tricks, no gizmos, no synthesizers, no loops or drum machines, no face paint or androgyny, just crank the amperage and play all three chords you know. Baird's vocals on the track bring to mind an American AC-DC, but the playing is less metallic, more in a Rolling Stones mode.

The AC-DC vocals are still with us on Baird's "Get Right With Jesus," but the rhythm section is Zeppelin, the scream is vintage Robert Plant and the guitar work is Jimmy Page. (Come on, you know we can all scream like Plant, come on, try it, you know you can do it.)

Well I guarantee when the sun goes down
Ain't but two things that I've got to do
I've got to get right with Jesus
And I gotta get right with you

Hank Jr. catches hell in Ambel's Skynrdish "Monkey With A Gun." The twin guitar attack, led by Ambel on this track, is straight out of the Deep South, but the sentiments expressed are anything but redneck and anything but flattering to Jr., who is described simply as "a monkey with a gun." While Ambel flays Jr. lyrically and paints him as an embarrassing cad, the band lays down some stiff rhythmic riff rock that the Stones would envy.

Well he fell off that mountain and he never was the same
Somewhere in Colorado sits a chunk of Jr.'s brain

"I Can Give You Everything," written by Terry and Al Anderson, keeps the record rocking hard. Four rockers in a row? Why, it's unheard of in this day and time. Record companies don't allow it. It's just not done.

The hell you say.

With Baird handling the vocals, it's not surprising that this three-minute scorcher bears more than a casual resemblance to the hardest rocking Georgia Satellites work.

The band finally catches its breath on "Bottle and a Bible," another track with lots of Ronny Van Zandt flavor.

I stopped by the liquor store on the way to revival
Headed down the road with a bottle and a bible
Took a little longer than I hoped it would
I want to thank you, Lord, for treatin' me good
Every day workin' on survival, it's hard to choose
Between a bottle and a bible

Baird's "Oh! Chicago" is the rockingest track on a very rocking album. This is frantic bluesy Stones British riff rock from their late '60s period when they covered Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon tunes, only done with better (i.e. louder) equipment. Ambel tears big chunks of rhythm out of the atmosphere and the drums and bass stomp the floor as Baird leans into the sassy vocals with his made-for-sass voice. The band moves like a well-oiled '59 Pontiac Bonneville with flipper hubcaps on this wax-melter. Think "Honky Tonk Women" trying to outrun a train. "Hunt You Down" and "Hankerin'" each put a new twist on the same vein ("Hunt" brings back a lot of Savoy Brown memories), while Baird's riffing on the dangerous "Wicked World" is from the Skynrd "That Smell" genetic tree.

There are two shockers on Fear Not The Obvious. One is the cheesy, profane Ambel love song "Baby, I Love You." If you've ever been in a relationship with someone who needed continual reassurance or a relationship with a "clinger," this may well become your anthem (if you are willing to destroy that relationship so you can listen to this song, because the clingee ain't gonna like it!). The other shocker is the final track. It doesn't seem possible, it doesn't seem right, but this four-piece monster rock machine tones itself down and absolutely aces Abba's gigantic '70's soft rock hit, "Dancing Queen." I am amazed that no one has had the marketing snap to put this song out to radio as a single. It's got dollar signs all over it.

Good rock isn't supposed to be rocket science and we shouldn't have to be PhDs to enjoy it or get it. Rock is supposed to be like the automatic door at the supermarket and just open indiscriminately for anyone who wants to enter. The Yayhoos have made just such a record. Just pop it in the player of your GTO or your Impala Super Sport, slip on your Ray-Bans, crank the seat back and the volume up, and cruise. The Yayhoos take care of the rest. You don't even have to think about it. Just do it.

* You know you've been wanting to ditch that fuel-efficient rice-burner your driving and buy that silver '72 Firebird that's on the back of the used car lot. Go to www.bloodshotrecords.com and buy Fear Not The Obvious. It's all the excuse you need. (Sorry, Wayne, the album is not available in 8-track format at this time.)





Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

 
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