Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Nervous Norvus Stone Age Woo: The Zorch Sounds of… CD (Norton)

Jimmy Drake was a self-trained musician who loved Red Blanchard’s kid’s radio show and started composing original novelty tunes in tribute to the DJ. Blanchard liked what he heard, and transformed Drake—who just thought he was a demo man--into the wild Nervous Norvus performing character. This daffy comp includes Norv’s sole hit, the 1956 auto-crash ballet “Transfusion,” and scads of unheard primitive oddities that flesh out Drake’s uniquely unsettling take on the American pop songbook. From the leering “I Like Girls” to the hysterical “Does A Chinese Chicken Have A Pigtail?” to the first person tale of a sexy space alien called The Fang, Drake’s lo-fi rockabilly paints a picture of a deranged, yet strangely gentle, hillbilly maniac. You just want to hug the nut.

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