Whether or not you're on the outs with your squeeze, it's hard not to relate to "Do Right," the infectious single from Jimmie's Chicken Shack's latest. Owing as much to '80s New Wave pop as to the band's usual blitz of guitar-heavy slacker-ska, singer Jimmie Haha runs down the typical litany of offenses ("Won't make my bed up straight/I always stay out late...I always smell like smoke/everything's a joke") before begging the question, "Once would you tell me please, what do I do right?"
After scoring with the hit "High" from its 1997 debut, the Maryland quartet has turned down the crunch and aimed for loftier goals: songs based on melody rather than guitar riffs. Beyond the ebullient pop of "Lazy Boy Dash" and "String Of Pearls" are some lame themes ("She want a string of pearls...I got her a necklace made of flowers from the trash can"), but Haha gets off more than his share of one-liners ("Don't lift your leg on my family tree").
"Ooh" and the Swervedriver-meets-the-Beatles "Fill In The Blank" evidence the band's growthΓÇöthough I'd hesitate to use the word "maturity"--while "Face It" is a showcase for mixologist Chris Lord-Alge.
JimmieΓÇÖs Chicken Shack: All recordings courtesy of Island/Rocket Records and Peermusic Ltd/Jimmie's Chicken Shack (BMI). ΓÇ£Do RightΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£String Of Pearls,ΓÇ¥ written by J. R. Davies, Jr. ΓÇ£Lazy Boy DashΓÇ¥ written by J. R. Davies, Jr., D. Dowling, M. Sipple and C. Lemon Colavita
