Tricky Woo

Sometimes I Cry (Sonic Unyon)
by Jon Sarre

Gotta like these Quebeçois rock’n’rollers for the sheer balls it takes to brazenly steal the “TV Eye” riff right off the bat. First song on this record, it’s an instrumental, “Altamont Raven,” has this purloined Asheton riffage and Tricky Woo‘s just like “what cha gonna do about it?” What the hell is an “Altamont Raven” anyway? They drop in hand claps (like circa the first Stooges record) and demented cowbell clonks (as if Grand Funk were playin’ hockey arenas again), fuzzed out SovTech, too (think Mark Arm and Steve Turner back in Green River). It’s like these Canucks are tryin’ to pull something over on us unsuspecting south-of-the-boreder dwellers (but on the other hand, I’ve never heard any of this stuff on the radio, either).

“I’m gonna save you with rock’n’roll!” Andrew Dickson yells with all the conviction in his soul on “Sad Eyed Woman.” Over his shoulder, his band rewrites all the songs on their scratchy copy of Funhouse and maybe even Iggy’ll wanna plug in again and regain his Rubber Legs. Don’t let all the Stoogoid references make ya think Tricky Woo’s an homage act (the comparison’s just a fuckin’ compliment unless yer a Rush fan, I mean SevenDust would kill to be compared to primetime Jimmy Osterberg wouldn’t they?). Sometimes I Cry is of and inspired by (and still breathing) all fifty goddamned years or so of rock music with pealing screams, extendo wah wah run-thrus, drum break downs, shameless forays into psychedelic meaninglessness, “Alllllrightssss!” like Jon Spencer on meth and nonsensical lyrics (“All my friends in the U.S.A are gonna let me sleep for another day!” chanted over and over, for example), and almost more fuzz guitar mini-Hendrix eruptions per song than on the entire Nuggets box set. It’s all that in twelve songs that temporarily gives ya the impression that the music industry exists only in another dimension. Utopia is only as far as your CD player.
(PO Box 57347 Jackson Station Hamilton, ON Canada L8P 4X2)