Search - Make Up :: I Want Some

Not for the mild-mannered

I. Williamson | Detroit, MI USA | 10/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The gospel/garage/lo-fi sound of the make-up is not for the faint of heart. The music is raw and energetic, making it difficult to sit still while one listens. Miss Michelle Mae has mastered the art of the relatively simple but extremely infectious bassline, ably supported by Steve Gamboa's simmeringly tense backbeats. Canty uses his guitar like a paintbrush, laying it on thick where necessary or just adding a few drops here and there. However, the make-up's greatest strength lies in Ian Svenonius's amazingly deranged vocal stylings. This is a band that the listener either loves or hates. Svenonius has been compared alternately to James Brown and a strangled cat. The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but I will guarantee that you will never hear anything else like this amazingly unique voice. Svenonius's ragged falsetto periodically breaks off into an almost inhuman burst of howls and squeals, ranging up far higher than most humans are cabable of. Don't believe it? Try it for yourself. While you are at it, do yourself a favor and give this band a listen. If you can't stand the singing, maybe you should be looking for something more along the lines of "the wallflowers", or "mariah carey", or "the dave matthews band"--or any other band for whom music is a formula rather than a manifesto."

We cant be contained!

I. Williamson | 04/09/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ok this is for the converted, great mix of rare early material that is out of print mixed with a few very well put together tracks from scattered singels over the last few years, this disk captures there early dissent into gosple punk and winds up with the sound that is very in mass mind . A must have, for us children of the revolution, pick it up and tell every one you know to go get it today! Q."

I been touching you... with my thumb...

Campbell Roark | from under the floorboards and through the woods.. | 03/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My fave by Make Up. A truly godly singles comp. It gets a round of applaw... The first five tracks alone make this worth the price.



Just adding my 15 cents. This was one of my fave bands, and is one of my favorite albums. It makes manual labor (hell, labor or anything else) of all sorts go nicely. Painting, washing dishes, running, working out, whatever... Great party album to boot, albeit only for a certain type of crowd...



Imagine James Brown as a skinnny white guy (with great hair), tucked into some kind of freaked out DIY socialist musical collective consisting of a unimposing but stellar drummer, a truly statuesque and low-end gifted babe of a bass player (yesyesyes, the interminable broken record: damnthatbassplaya's FOINE!) and a sublimely versatile guitarist/minimalist on keys. The singer- he whimpers, shouts, screams, chortles, keens, croons, pouts, simpers and ties you up tight with the scraps from the lil black dress of soul. A Great time.



This is funky and soulful as hell. This rocks. This rolls. The reason most people don't like and won't get this band: they (the band, not the people) defy categorization.



The lyrics are utterly bizarre (check the titles) and are delivered with such feeling and puissance, they take you by surprise and make you laugh, smile, groove. Svenonious is beyond being self-conscious; when his vocal rips up into the high stratosphere spyplane/soprano-orgasm octaves... It'll catch you off- and put you back on. The bass and drums are tight, and the explosive/jangly guitars and occasional organs n keys n stuff: fill in the sound nicely.



Now then, a caveat: I tend to go for music that either pulls you into the room or sends you out wailing and cupping your hands to your ears. This album falls into that category. Yes, it transecnds the hype (for a change)... Not for the light-hearted, BUT. If you dig The Faint, Al Green, the MC5, The Stooges, Sloan, Prince... you may find that you dig this. If you're in the know, then you're just probably listening to it now and nodding.

"