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Editor’s Note: Over the next 10 days, I’ll be presenting my favorite
local records of the year, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1, one
album a day. Keep checking back to see how the list pans out, and, in
the meantime, click after the jump to see albums No. 20-11 in the Top
20 list that will update as the it grows…
No. 5: Mount Righteous — When The Music Starts
Seriously: How much can you really enjoy listening to an album of marching band singalongs about childhood and perseverance and being happy with all things good in life? Well, in the case of the proudly Grapevine-bred, mostly unamplified, 11-piece Mount Righteous, quite a lot, actually.
How? Well, because When The Music Starts isn’t trying to be anything that it isn’t, for one. It isn’t music for kids–it’s music for adults who miss what it was like to be a kid. And, with this highly, highly enjoyable debut, Joey Kendall and friends have proven themselves quite capable of bottling up and repackaging all of the fleeting senses of childhood nostalgia.
Is it gimmicky? Maybe a little. But it’s also a niche, and, unlike in the attempts of so many other locally-produced efforts this year, Mount Righteous has been able to find itself a fairly untapped niche. What, you know of another 11-piece act out there that can get a whole room smiling and dancing without any special effects and without anyone ever having heard of the band before? I highly doubt that.
Bonus mp3:
Disagree? OK, that’s fine. I just feel bad that you had such a crappy childhood. —Pete Freedman
