Saturday, July 4, 2009

The How - Happy Matt

(Slumberland, 2006)

The “Happy Matt” single is just what it looks like: a recreation of the Who sound circa ’66, right down to the manic drum fills and Daltrey falsetto. The A-side deserves mild criticism for not being quite as fiery as it should be, but “When I Was a Boy” satisfies by turning the “Ivor the Engine Driver” section of “A Quick One While He’s Away” into a self-contained mod-pop song with a Creation-esque speaker-blowing feedback solo. Nothing major here, just a sloppy, fun one-off that largely achieves its Rutles-style objective. Released as one of the records that announced the relaunch of Slumberland a few years back, the band is made up of members of Henry’s Dress and Boyracer, making it a nice bridge from the label’s past to its present/future.

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