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Mission Temple Fireworks Stand
Barnes and Noble
Mission Temple Fireworks Stand
Current price: $17.99
Barnes and Noble
Mission Temple Fireworks Stand
Current price: $17.99
Size: OS
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If the cover depicting
as a bunch of tough yet well-groomed carnies wasn't an indication that their 2005 effort
captures a rougher, rowdier version of the veteran
band, the opening title cut confirms it. A galloping bluesy rocker, patterned on a
-tent singalong but sounding like pure
, it's a welcome change from the cautious crossover
of 2002's
and it's a good indication of what the overriding character of the album is. Throughout much of the rest of the album,
favor loose, lean, humorous country-rockers, whether it's spiking
's
with "ooga-chakas" lifted from
's take on
'
or doing a spirited cover of
It's as if the group heard the raunchy sounds of
and
and decided the way to compete was going for straight-ahead
. Of course, this is
, the group that first came to fame on
, so they haven't abandoned their taste for big sentiment, and they have two of their most unbearably mawkish numbers to date here:
a tale of a father dying from lung cancer, and its flip side,
a tale about a newborn baby. These are syrupy, drippy tunes, but they don't slow down the album too much, since most of the record moves along briskly -- the hooks are plentiful, the band sounds tight, and the production is uncluttered, making for their best record in over a decade. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine