The YAYHOOS:Press |
|
The Yayhoos: London Live Review Luminaria Jan 12 2007 The Yayhoos: Put The Hammer Down by Ed Masley-Harp Magazine December 2006 In their rowdier moments, the Yayhoos rock like they’re riding around on the back of that same pickup truck the long-departed Georgia Satellites rode to roots-rock glory in the shotgun-wedding video to “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.” In fact, unless you count their Stonesy reinvention of the O’Jays’ “Love Train,” this is pretty much the record any reasonable person might expect from an ’80 roots-revival super-group stocked with two Satellites (Dan Baird and bassist Keith Christopher), the guy behind their other big hit, “Battleship Chains” (Terry Anderson) and Eric Ambel of the Del-Lords. For the full effect, you’d more than likely have to catch them in a sweaty dive bar somewhere, but even on CD, their scrappy roots-rock charms are obvious enough to make you want to crack a cold one in their honor.
The Yayhoos: Put The Hammer Down by Eric Thom-Exclaim! Magazine 9.25.06 Take three seasoned, trouble-making singer-songwriters who play hard becausethey love to. Throw in another grizzled survivor to handle bass duties, addbeer and shake. You¹ll get the second release by the Yayhoos a twistedamalgam of veterans from such bad-boy bands as the Del-Lords (Eric Ambel), Each checks his egos at the door, cracks open a few dozen beers in Roscoe's studio and shoots for the moon. Put TheHammer Down, indeed! These tunes alternately rock, roll and wrestle with all manner of influence a drunken collision between the Stones and the Faces each song driven by diverse singing strengths as each distinctive vocalist track that serves as a fun introduction to each player, powered by one of the best drum beats in recent history. "Getting¹ Drunk" and Baird's rough'n'tumble "Would It Kill You?". Ambel turns in the smoothest sounds with the considerably more genteel "Between You And Me", loaded with pop smarts, together with a Rundgren-esque "Hurtin' Thing". Yet it is Anderson's vocals that shinebrightest with a unique Jerry Garcia-meets-Ronnie Lane slant that transform both "All Dressed Up" and "Over The Top" into roots-rock masterpieces. The The Yayhoos: Live Review by Samantha Fryberger Cleveland Free Times 8.30.06 The Yayhoos: D.C Concert Preview and interview w Eric Ambel 8.23.06 The Yayhoos: Put The Hammer Down by Michael Berick The Cleveland Scene 8.23.06
The Yayhoos: Put the Hammer Down from Holly Gleason's Yummy List 8.2.06 Good dumb knuckle-dragging vintage Marshall amps set to 11 fun. Thematically, we're talking caveman testosterone, cheap beer, turn it up. Louder! Harder! MORE!!! Musically, it's everything great about lean rock & roll -- and it totally maximizes the glory of the downstroke, the rubber-bottom of a melody-climbing bassline and the gift of a sqwauled vocal in full-rut. “Gettin' Drunk” is a frat boy manifesto, while “Where's Your Boyfriend At” is howling hormones with an undulative beat. The jump-roping beats of “Everything/Anything” is almost old school hip-hop/”American Bandstand” line dance proportions replete with each musician introducing/defining/braggodocio-do-doing about their unique skills, while “Would It Kill You” is a rejoinder to that girlfriend who's had it that's equal points hilarity and over it.
The Yayhoos: Put the Hammer Down by Rick Cornell-Raliegh Independent 7.26.06 No one knows the exact date, but at some point in the early '90s it officially became a cliché to refer to a song of a certain guitar-rock vintage, presented with a loose-jointed delivery threatening to go ramshackle, to be "the best Replacements' song in X number of years." I'm here to look that cliché in the eye and declare that "All Dressed Up" and "Never Give an Inch," both from the Yayhoos' new Put the Hammer Down, are the two best Replacements' songs in 15 years. It's not a forced comparison, either. The four members of the Yayhoos go back as far as the 'mats and some probably even shared a stage with them at one time or another. Guitarist Dan Baird was in the Georgia Satellites with bassist Keith Christopher before launching a successful solo career. Local guy Terry Anderson, your rare drummer/songwriter/vocalist, co-starred in the Fabulous Knobs and the Woods before releasing solo records of his own and starting the Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team. Eric "Roscoe" Ambel has the longest résumé of the crew, with memberships in Joan Jett's original Blackhearts, the Del-Lords and Steve Earle's Dukes, and production credits for numerous roots rockers. Together, they are a bar-band supergroup, wearing the front half of that tag like a badge of honor, dodging the back half with self-deprecation, and willing to laugh at the oxymoronity of such a description. In fact, a line from Baird's "Never Give an Inch" might pass for the band's credo: "Well, I may be stupid, but, thank God, I ain't bored." But they're really not stupid. In fact, Hammer showcases the guys' versatility. Ambel's "Hurtin' Thing" is a shimmying, shimmering rocker with a big soul song inside, just trying to get out. The Baird/Mary McBride co-written "Would It Kill You" is a tough blues-rocker, "Between You and Me" is a jangly pop tune, and the band roll call "Everything/Anything" is a hoot. Things wrap with "Over the Top," a Stonesy power ballad written and sung by Christopher. Elsewhere, they find the inner Yayhoo song in both "Love Train" and the B-52's' "Roam," which means plenty of swapped vocals and last-call guitar joy as well as an infectious pull that'll have you itching to, well, roam around the world on a love train. The latter, especially, becomes an anthem for the ages, its irony apparent when Baird sings what sounds like "hip!" repeatedly. These guys are not the least bit interested in being hip. But, thank God, they're never bored. Or boring. --Rick Cornell The Yayhoos: Put The Hammer Down by Peter Hund Good Music.com 7.4.06 The Yayhoos: Put The Hammer Down by John Holcomb Amplifier Magazine 6.20.06 Twangfest Live Review by Barry Gilbert-St Louis Post-Dispatch 6.9.06 "Not Just Any Yahoos, The Yayhoos" by Al Kunz- Playback:STL 5.22.06 The Yayhoos: Put The Hammer Down by Mike Madden- Medleyville 5.30.06 Yayhoos/Hammer Album of the month Rocktip.de
This is a rock-and-roll record - a loose, loud and (mostly) fun one. The kind of rock-and-roll the pop mainstream no longer has anything to do with. The Yayhoos are a summit of sorts - the four distinct personalities all sing and write and have individual careers. Put the Hammer Down resurrects the special chemistry they sparked on their 2001 debut, Fear Not the Obvious. Amid a couple of left-field covers ("Love Train," "Roam"), Dan Baird again specializes in greasy riff-rockers, Eric "Roscoe" Ambel changes the pace and the mood with a couple of hurtin' tunes, and wild man Keith Christopher plays against type with the album's quietest number. Terry Anderson, meanwhile, again comes across as the band's real linchpin: His songs reflect the band's range, from the heartfelt and catchy "All Dressed Up" to the bluntly horny "Gettin' Drunk," which is about, well, getting undressed. It's summer: Crank it up. Terrell's Tuneup- When the beer is plentiful, all the girls are pretty By Steve Terrell | The New Mexican "Gettin' drunk, gettin' naked, gettin' laid,and gettin' out," is the refrain of one of the songs here. That pretty much sums up the spirit of Put the Hammer Down. The band has an impressive résumé. It consists of singer Dan Baird (formerly of the Georgia Satellites); guitarist Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (who has played with Joan Jett, The Del-Lords, and for the past several years, Steve Earle); drummer Terry Anderson (The Olympic Ass Kickin' Team); and bassist Keith Christopher (another ex-Georgia Satellite, who's also played with Billy Joe Shaver, Paul Westerberg, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and others.) As in their first effort, Fear Not the Obvious, The Yayhoos sing of a world where it's always Saturday night, the girls are all pretty, and the beer is cheap and plentiful. It starts off with "Where's Your Boyfriend At," a celebration of adulterous potential. I'm not sure why the instrumental bridge alludes to the "Batman" theme. "Would It Kill You" has some fun with domestic discord. "Would it kill you to take that noose off my neck/Would it kill you to stop acting like a wreck?" There's even a song here ("Everything/Anything") that introduces the boys in the band: "My name is Roscoe, and I am the boss/Without me the Minnow would be lost ... My name is Dan, I talk loud and a lot/Without me this band wouldn't rock." This track would be the obvious choice for a theme if The Yayhoos got their own weekly sitcom. While most of the songs are original, The Yayhoos do a couple of inspired covers -- The O'Jays' "Love Train," which features various Yayhoos trading vocals, and an especially exhilarating version of the B-52s' "Roam." You can order Hammer from www.yayhoos.com.
some more Yayhoos reviews....... "Put The Hammer Down" by Matt Wardlaw - Blogcritics.org 4.29..06 "Fear Not the Yayhoos" by Jon Wuster - Independent Weekly 9.26.01 "Southern Rock Opera" by Jerry Renshaw - Austin Chronicle 3.22.02 |
....
