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The Smashing Times — Mrs. Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys
(Bandcamp Perennial Death PRNL55, 2024, LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-11-01

Mrs. Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys Cover art

I expect that my approach to a band like The Smashing Times is different than most of their listeners. In them I hear the loose jangle of late-60s psychedelic music approached with a DIY attitude that has no need of recording studio frippery. I think of the eccentric vibes of Twink’s Think Pink. Many of the artists mentioned in relation to them are ones I’m not familiar with — Television Personalities, The Cleaners from Venus, Jacobites — though there’s also Game Theory, which I’m very familiar with and hear no commonality to. I suppose the general idea of catchy melodic songs featuring both male and female voices relates to Game Theory, but the deliberate lack of professionalism in The Smashing Times really sets them apart. For many listeners, “deliberate lack of professionalism” might be considered a red flag, a sentiment I certainly understand. It’s a thin line between charming naïveté and sloppiness. For most bands, and album like Mrs. Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys might serve as demos for songs that would later be rehearsed and tightened up, but here that directness and spontaneity is the point. There’s enough 12-string guitar to make me think that The Byrds are an influence, and many of the songs approach the chord progressions and melodies in a very late-60s way, not to mention the quaint and charming lyrics. You’ll also hear organ and other keyboards, as well as bass and drums, but they never really rock — "I Paint the Pictures" comes closest, and features a nifty wah-wah guitar part. The Smashing Times might be an acquired taste, but there is something refreshing about their anti-rock-star let’s-give-it-a-whirl casualness.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): The Smashing Times

More info
http://thesmashingtimes.bandcamp.com/album/mrs-ladyships-and-the-cleanerhouse-boys

 

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