Opening title track ‘Looking God In The Eye’ strikes an instant cocksure pose, figuring like The Beatles bundled in the mixer with Iggy Pop’s ‘Some Weird Sin’. Always trust a song with handclaps: from such strong foundations great things can be built.
Ken Greenhouse is CASAVERDE and he is based in Brooklyn, Noo Yawk. There’s a ragged charm to his efforts on this sophomore release and he deserves plaudits for the vigour with which he approaches his solo ventures. When Ken charges up to the attic and polishes his mementos from the treasure chest gold-embossed with the name “Manic Pop Thrills” he’s brimming with energy and tunes. Sadly though by the overwhelming evidence of the other tracks on ‘Looking God In The Eye’ he’d rather spend his time buffing up some tired old relics from the cardboard box in the basement labelled “Musings By Musos”.
Ken plays all instruments and when he’s on form has a penchant for 60s musicola reinvented for crunchy guitars in the post-punk power pop pattern. ‘Why Don’t You’ (not a cover of the theme tune to the children’s TV programme) is the other brief flirtation with brilliance that conjures up fond memories of The Buzzcocks and The Undertones as well as Phil Spector’s girl groups. However, it soon transpires that elsewhere his instrumental proficiency and creative flourishes are disguising some hackneyed song-writing and a limited vocal ability. Never trust a song with too many ‘ooh-ooh’ harmonies: they are often papering over nasty cracks. Never trust an album with too many songs with ‘ooh-ooh’ harmonies: it may mean irreparable subsidence.
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A couple of diamonds in the rough but not enough sparkle to distract the listener from the surrounding lumps of coal.
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