OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY - The Big Takeover

Until the band’s “discovery” last year by LITTLE STEVEN, OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY had toiled faithfully in the shadows for years, known mostly by underground pop cognoscenti. Which is a shame, really, as the Motor City quartet’s string of psychedelic rock/pop LPs has been quite fine. This late in the game, the band could be forgiven for coasting on its considerable talents, but instead Universal Malcontents may be its best album yet. There’s no conceptual thread here, no locus other than the desire to write and record excellent tunes. Leader/songsmith MATTHEW SMITH is more on form than ever before, whether on a cosmic blues rocker like “Outsider,” a shimmering psych popper like “Feels Like Shadows,” a glam-inflected choogler like “I Recognized Her” or a sardonic stomper like “It’s Not Rock N’ Roll (And I Don’t Like It).” Universal Malcontents is, I think, Outrageous Cherry’s most consistently engaging album, and that’s saying a lot. - Michael Toland / The Big Takeover