Burn Your Sister

Title: Burn Your Sister
Artist: Horny Genius
Purchased: Don't remember; likely got it as a buyer in a record store when all Horny Genius' label's records were on clearance.
Verdict: Keeper

Hmm. Well, this is hard. One of the members, John McNeil, is an acquaintance-friend from back in Madison. I haven't kept in touch, and we never really hung out that much, but was always a nice surprise to run into him. So now, John, if you're reading, I have to fess up that I've had this record in my stacks and never listened to it until now. And it's cool that you got Michael "Killdozer" Gerald to do vocals on a track. I'm going to see Killdozer this weekend at the Touch & Go 25 anniversary block party. Should be fun.

I have to ask, since my disposition is already colored, can I fairly assess this record? I'm not entirely sure. I can say that it sounds to me like a poppier version of Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, and that's good. There's a pretty instrumental moment in "Goin' Down to Mexico," which is also good. Michael Gerald's vocals are pretty buried, though I'll blame that on the production. It seems like the production could have been better across the board. It sounded like the guy was trying to smooth down all the rough edges and make it a college rock album, not a rock album.

Hey! Here's something interesting, and from the internet no less! The producer, Albert Garzon, also produced 10,000 Maniacs, which definitely backs up my "blame the producer" theory. He's now a burlesque pianist, perhaps as an act of atonement. I think there was a really good (not great) album in here that got buried. As it is, it's okay. And I'm keeping it because there are good feelings attached to it.