If you ever wondered what it may sound like to grab a big musical bowl, throw in The Ramones, Chuck Berry, Dick Dale, Muddy Waters, The Sex Pistols, and The Rolling Stones, look no further than The Hypstrz. I'm still unsure wether I really enjoy listening to punk/blues but it's something to add to the list of musical concoctions.



Recorded in 1979 at the Longhorn in the Twin Cities, "Live At The Longhorn" gives a thorough grasp on The Hypstrz oeuvre. The CD charts all kinds of covers from "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" to "Hey Joe"; once covered by Jimi Hendrix and now given a rollicking new treatment by the Hypstrz. The band plays mostly covers, because it's what they love. In the liner notes it even states this: "...we chose to cover songs we loved rather than write ones that we didn't love...so much". Occasionally an original slips into the mix like the romping "This Has Gotta Be A Joke" but mostly it's just well translated blues and rock songs from a by-gone era.



I extend my hand to the Hypstrz for following their love of music so exclusively. The band clearly wasn't only learning these songs so they could write their own one day, they did it because it's what they felt a needed to do. That said, they execute the songs with a daring edge that is very little heard these days.



It's hard to imagine this kind of music being played in 1979 when the Hypstrz contemporaries were acts like The Ramones, Lou Reed, Supertramp, and Led Zepplin, but here these guys are taking no notice of that and blasting away ode after ode regardless. The album doesn't stray too far, in sound, from one song to the next. All of them feature Bill Batson's tormented voice and Ernest Batson's bluesy guitar alongside the ripping rhythm section of John Haga on drums and Randy Weiss on bass.



From listening to the album you can tell the venue wasn't packed. There are no chants coming from the back and no passionate calls from the front, the room sounds nearly empty. What comes from the band would make you think otherwise though. The band leaves nearly no spaces to breathe in-between songs and just pumps out roof-shaking tune after roof-shaking tune. Batson's voice is textured well at the right times he comes off sounding like a lesser trained John Fogerty, at other times though his voice cracks and is swallowed by the crying sound of his brothers guitar work. Highlights from the first live set have to be "Slow Death" and "In The Midnight Hour" which ring true to the blues essence.



For Hypstrz fans this is a welcome package. On the Disc is thirty-seven tracks, none really extending past three minutes, but eighteen being completely unreleased. Most of the songs are recorded from the night at Longhorn, but the final three are recorded in 2004 at the Turf Club in St. Paul Minnesota, proving that these cats are still jumping and sounding just as excited as that night in 1979. Maybe it's not for everyone, but to get a little taste of what enthusiastic, creative, and daring individuals can do with music they love is something becoming more and more rare in this industry, fueled by bubble-gum.



Track Listing

1 In the Midnight Hour

2 All or Nothing

3 I'll Go Crazy

4 I Don't

5 Talk Talk

6 Tied to Hide

7 Slow Death

8 Riot on Sunset Strip

9 Shake

10 This Has Gotta Be a Joke

11 Little Girl

12 Louie Go Home

13 Don't Look Back

14 Let's Talk About Girls

15 96 Tears

16 Hold on I'm Coming

17 Can't Stand the Pain

18 Action Woman

19 Hey Joe

20 Jenny Take a Ride [#]