By Deuce

The vivacity of Idiot Grins, as illustrated by the band’s most recent Long Player, Hounds of Mess Around, is beyond commendable. It’s infectious, in many moments. And oftentimes, it’s something that is to be aspired to, although it may take quite a bit of working up to, to get to the level of these gents.

Song for song on the album, the listener is treated to effervescent horns that are worth standing up for almost each time they sound. Doesn’t matter if that’s on “Riunite”, the album’s leadoff, or “She Looks That Way”, which may very well be the best of the bunch. Those horns accentuate the ends of measures, punctuate them, and give the tunes a degree of spirit that’s missing from the synthesized version of these instruments…and outright lacking in most manifestations of rock and its contemporaries.

Plus, the pace of both of these songs, as well as “PA Mining Town” and most of the other cuts, is outright rousing. We’re talking mid to upper 90s BPM at a minimum. And, with the drumming of Michael Melgoza bringing the cue sticks to the foreground on many of these tracks, that pace isn’t easy to keep up with. “Mining Town” exemplifies Melgoza’s playing with an intricacy on the track’s main drum pattern that seemingly belies the sheer pace of the song. Somehow, though, he manages to pull it off, and to spectacular effect.

Then there’s the way the gang hammers out vocals. Evan Eustis and John Hansen pass the mic back and forth, alternating between lead and background vocals. It’s not just the propensity for coming up with catchy melodies that’s noteworthy about this aspect of the album. It’s the way the background vocals, almost always pitched above those of the lead, blend in with the latter that makes the highs of the songs even higher. Plus, one would almost swear there’s a female voice or two blending in with the others but, if so, they’re uncredited—as is the case with the horn-playing.

At times the band sojourns into less traveled territory, as is the case on “Not Reggae”. With Ska overtones provided by the horns predominantly on the hook, it’s a lively affair that hints at the depth of the band’s materials and resources when it comes to making music, man.