Review: Rapid Randy - Widow Maker

    Rapid Randy Hughes (Nic-O-Teens/NcSeventeen/Model Citizen/Parasites/Backseat Virgins/too damn many more to name) is back after close to a five year hiatus. And his return is nothing less than an extraordinary experiment. Gentle, but brash by virtue of its very existence, Widow Maker is a delicate, personal, and strange return for the one-time (and hopefully once-again) prolific musician. For this 4-song EP, Randy has traded in his bass for an other-worldly autoharp and subtle electronics. Using these devices, and a little help from his equally creative family, a soft, spectral soundscape is crafted. A skilled pop and punk and pop-punk singer, his voice is now distant and low in the mix. Spoken poetry and observations. He shares his thoughts as spacey soundbites. A salesman of the soul. Melancholic. Cathartic. Magical. This is the fragile sound of a brilliant artist freed. I can't wait to hear what else he has in store for us. Glad to have you back, Rapid, hope you stick around for a long time. -Harmless

Rapid Randy on Bandcamp

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nathan Baugh 1/15/83 - 12/24/15

Image
    Earlier this year, Guntersville, AL band The Devil's Got A Hold On Me played a show at the Glass Onion in Gadsden. I'd seen them play several times and was excited to see them tear up my local vinyl fix. Though the crowd was minimal (welcome to Gadsden!), the trio gave us their all. At least the cool people showed up. Per usual, Keith's guitar was loud and nasty and dirty and effortless. Brad killed on drums, pounding the beat with a sufficient prowess and an excess of violence. I've never heard anyone ask, "Where's the bass guitar?". The duo was, as always, tight and unhinged at the same time. And then there was Nathan...       Nate yelled into the microphone. He was always angry, hurt, determined. He mostly sang looking down. Or maybe inward. I never once saw the man sing to an audience. Never. He refused to face us beyond a passing glimpse. We were a corner into which he had backed. In reality, he was a nice guy who loved his family and frien
Read more

Chris Lee 6/29/80 - 7/23/16

Image
    Chris Lee has passed away. Unless you knew him, I don't know if I can stress just how significant he was. If you did know him, you're heartbroken like me and you don't need anyone to tell you. But I have to write this.     Chris was the most recent singer of the long-running Huntsville Alabama metal band Envain and even before that had done his share of kicking ass with other bands for years. He was a thoughtful, intelligent man who threw all boundaries away the second he took the stage or barroom floor. He embodied the D.I.Y. punk rock aesthetic. He would sport patches and even tattoos of his favorite local bands. He loved them. When the singer of The Devil's Got A Hold On Me, Nate Baugh, passed away, and the band made the hard decision to turn an already-booked show into a tribute, Chris didn't hesitate to step up and sing. He made no attempt to copy his fallen friend, he just did everything he could to entertain. Blood, sweat, and tears literally followe
Read more

We Care A Lot about Chuck Mosley

Image
  My musical endeavors, the GAD! Zine, and this blog can all be traced back to one inspiring cassette that I purchased when I was a kid: Faith No More's debut album, We Care A Lot. Early FNM introduced me to the sounds of punk, post-punk, metal, even a touch of rap that I could stand. The vocals were truly unique, with lyrics that could be abstract and enigmatic one moment and so utterly relateable and down-to-earth the next. The music that would accompany this new poetry was dark and menacing and catchy and unencumbered by any preconceived notions of a particular blueprint or specific style. This album completely opened my mind to not just a whole new world, but to an entire universe of creative possibilities. I've often said that if it weren't for punk rock, then I'd have been a lot more successful, but I would've killed myself. So, in a way, Faith No More saved my life.     Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled when Kolbey and I were given the opportunit
Read more