Eight years after the solid but underwhelming
Blue Cave and six years after officially calling it a day, Australian geniuses
the Hoodoo Gurus have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and reconvened in the studio to cut
Mach Schau, which pretty well picks up where the band left off when listeners last visited with them. The poppier (and garagier) accents of
the Hoodoos' classic-period albums (
Mars Needs Guitars through
Magnum Cum Louder) have been pushed to the back burner in favor of a harder, guitar-based sound not unlike 1994's
Crank, though "When You Get to California" and "Chop" boast more than a glimmer of their friendlier approach, and their trademark wit is gratefully in evidence throughout (especially on the snarky "Sour Grapes" and "The Mighty Have Fallen." Dave Faulkner's voice shows a bit of wear around the edges on these sessions, but he's more than game, and the rest of the band sounds tight and enthusiastic, as if they never quit (since Faulkner, guitarist
Brad Shepherd, and drummer
Mark Kingsmill were still playing together in the Persian Rugs, they probably never had the chance to get out of practice). Among
Hoodoo Gurus fans,
Mach Schau is probably going to be viewed as a matter of taste -- devotees of later-period
Hoodoos will love it, less so those folks who dug their earlier stuff. But by any standard, it's a strong and committed piece of rock & roll, and the world is a better place with
the Hoodoo Gurus in it, and that if nothing else makes for a good reason to check this out. ~ Mark Deming