I
knew House of Vibes Revisited was a reissue when I played it through the first
time, but it wouldn’t have surprised me to learn it was first released in
1967 rather than 1994, when it debuted. The Grip Weeds, a New Jersey power-pop
quartet, recorded House of Vibes in a studio the band put together in an old house
in Highland Park. In the ensuing years the band built a more technologically advanced
studio in a house across town. They used this new technology to give House of
Vibes Revisited a more polished sound than the original. They’ve also added
13 bonus tracks, including interviews with band members, demos, and live tracks. The
original 12 tracks on House of Vibes Revisited show a striking command of late-'60s
rock‘n’roll. The songs cover a lot of ground, from the raging guitar
rock of "Out of Today" and the Who-ish "Someone" to the acoustic
pop of "Realize" and "Always Come." The
songs are wonderfully melodic and feature complex, densely constructed harmony
vocals that invite comparisons to the Mamas and the Papas or the Left
Banke (a particularly strong influence, at least to my ears). Instruments and
vocals are cleanly separated in this remaster, and the bonus tracks demonstrate
that the band was able to re-create live the magic they created in the studio. Considering
the DIY source of the recording, House of Vibes Revisited is sonically impressive
-- it’s an honest, undoctored recording. It’s
easily my pick for reissue of the year and, along with Richard X. Heyman’s
Actual Sighs, it’s the most impassioned rock‘n’roll I’ve heard
in a long time. |
