Originally released on fellow Australian label Half A Cow (co-run by ex-Lemonhead Nic Dalton) in 2000, THE ORANGE HUMBLE BAND'S tremendous second album "Humblin' (Across America)" is something of a lost classic ripe for re-discovery.
Of course, the obvious first question is simply: who the hell are The Orange Humble Band when they're at home anyway? Well, if you're a fan of great power pop you'll probably know most of the personnel. Their songwriter/ prime mover is Darryl Mather (ex-Someloves), while on vocals we have sometime Posies frontman/ REM alumnus Ken Stringfellow; on drums we have Jody Stephens (from the legendary Big Star); lead guitarist Mitch Easter was part of the production team responsible for the first two REM albums; bassist Jamie Hoover plays with under-rated W&H faves The Spongetones and guitarist/ harmony vocalist Anthony Bautovich has previously played with the likes of The Lonely Hearts.
So yeah, we're dealing with what could crudely be termed a 'supergroup' but there's more because the keyboards are also predominantly manned by two geezers you might just have heard of previously, too: namely Spooner Oldham (yeah, as in Neil Young's Stray Gators and the co-writer of legendary soul tune "The Dark End Of The Street") and Jim Dickinson, as in producer of The Rolling Stones and Alex Chilton.
But, for once, "Humblin' (Across America)" is one of those rarer than hens' teeth occasions when the brilliant rays of individual talent fail to eclipse the quality of the songs brought to the table by - in this case - loosely-aggregated leader Darryl Mather. Indeed, like the excellent Golden Smog records (also featuring Jody Stephens) it's a case of the songs being placed on a pedestal way higher than anyone's ego. These songs are very much the epitome of the old-fashioned 'all-for-one' ethos and everyone puts in their four'pennorth (or bag of quarters if you prefer) for the common good, with the end results accordingly sounding truly splendid.
Recorded at Memphis's legendary Ardent Studios (i.e home of Big Star, Stax Records' output, The Replacements' "Pleased to Meet Me" album, the list goes on...), "Humblin'..." is indeed spiritually in league with Big Star's tough, tender and edgy sound, with the shadows of The Beatles, Byrds, country and Souther soul all looming sizeably in the background. It's sweet, muscular and inventive throughout; the harmonies are always top-notch and Ken Stringfellow turns in what could be his most consistently great vocal performance as a bonus. Indeed, legend has it he was so enamoured of the results, he bought the microphone he used for recording, but I digress.
Brilliantly, though, while much of "Humblin'..." taps into the magical spring of great US power pop, Mather's songs are good enough to keep us guessing in their own right. Indeed, songs like the opening "Vineyard Blues" with its' gentle, opiated atmosphere and Stringfellow's fragile, but lustful vocals and the perky, yet melancholic country-rocker that is "Better Just Fake It" (dig Oldham's delicious upright piano) soon demonstrate this is gonna be heavenly gear all the way down the line.
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And so it proves. Songs like "On Our Way Back Home" and "Annie Run Run" are devastatingly good, harmony-laden crystalline power pop of the Big Star/ Byrds variety ( actually Easter's guitar solo on the former is straight outta "Fifth Dimension"); "What's Your Crime?" and the magnificent "Listen Up!" are both infused with fat stabs of Muscle Shoals-style horns and breezy Southern swagger, while "The Way She Moves" has an undertow of woozy psychedelia and is driven along by Stephens' beefed-up "Tomorrow Never Knows"-style beat.
Indeed, such is the quality at work and play here, that even the folky likes of short, linking tracks like "The Ballad Of Gospel Sam" and "Crescent City Ball Park Theme" work beautifully, so switching off isn't ever a consideration. Nonetheless, it's probably the ambitious swoon of the neo-ballads like "One Hour's Lonely Play" and "Can You Imagine" that ultimately deserve the blue riband. "One Hour's Lonely Play" is very reminiscent of great Big Star ballads such as "Ballad Of El Goodo", but when the whole band finally slam in it's taken to another level of poignancy altogether. It's terrific, but possibly even bettered by "Can You Imagine" where Stringfellow turns in perhaps his most impassioned vocal of all and the harmonies are best described as simply 'Godlike.'
I assume that the sheer logistics of getting these talented players all together in one location presents a Golden Smog-style problem of ruling out tours and firm dates for follow-ups, and as I write I've no idea whether there may ever be another Orange Humble Band album in the future. However, one step at a time and all that, and for now "Humblin' (Across America)" should be more than enough to satiate the needs of all seasoned guitar pop fans on the scavenge for hidden treasure.
Bloody hell. January's not even in yet and already here's one of 2006's very best re-issues. Result.
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