New York-via-San Francisco rocker Ricky Lee Robinson is a one-man band, but not like Prince or Lenny Kravitz or any of those other 'geniuses' notorious for fussily neat-freaking themselves into playing every instrument on their records. Performing and recording several instruments simultaneously—including a foot-controlled three-piece drum kit and a guitar specially rigged with a 'polyphonic octaver' to cover the high and low ends—Robinson’s an old-timey one-man band, like that sad guy in the straw hat at Six Flags whose eye contact you and your punk friends made sure to avoid. But instead of barking out dixieland ditties or knee-cymbal soloing to When the Saints Go Marching in, Robinson uses this unusual performance style to revel in his serious jones for obscure 60s- and 70s-era Nuggets-friendly pop.Busking his heart out in a double-tracked voice reminiscent of a less-sexed Diamond Dogsera Bowie, Robinson’s debut disc of mostly original material (following a 2003 self-titled all-covers release) is sparkling with inspired energy—a record so sunny that two of its nine tracks (Welcome Home Sunshine and Hello Sunshine) speak directly to our solar system’s big (fiery) cheese.While Robinson indulges his love of rare and unusual ’70s pop covers early on here—opening with the heartfelt Crabby Appleton rocker Go Back and Jeans on, a minor U.K. hit by 'Lord' David Dundas that originated as an ad jingle for Brutus Jeans—it’s the seven originals that follow those fun exercises in pop nostalgia that really shine. Robinson’s sharp ear for classic pop chord progressions pays off in spades—whether he’s singing about mysterious ladies (the serpentine stomp-rocker Psychic Woman, with a wicked falsetto Barry-Gibb-on-a-bender hook) or absolutely nothing (Nana Nanana), he fills every corner of Mushu Pork with sticky hooks, reverb-drenched guitars, and the joyful noise of someone doing what they truly love.
-PlaybackSTL Magazine
Mailing List
9-13-07
Live at Great American Music Hall
(w/ Todd Rundgren)
Lyrics
