The Bad Seeds/Zakary Thaks - Texas Battle of the Bands (CD)

All Music Guide

The Bad Seeds only left behind six songs, two of which were halves of the same instrumental. But oh, what songs they were The group had the requisite natural garage punk snarl, but they could also strum along on acoustic instruments without sounding bored (part of the Stones' secret on all those early blues covers that no one ever talks about); lead singer Mike Taylor had a drawl that resembled Mick Jagger's, coupled with a wounded, earnest persona that made him very good on ballads like "A Taste of the Same," where their unusually good backing vocals helped a lot as well. Then he, Prince et al could turn around and do a version of Slim Harpo's "I'm a King Bee" that would've done master Rolling Stones imitators the Chocolate Watch Band credit. Their third single, "All Night Long," moves into Easybeats territory ("Tried to Hide"), and it works too -- this should have been a hit, at least regionally. "Zilch Parts 1 and 2" aren't half as memorable, but they're better than this single's th...rowaway reputation would lead one to believe, even if the other four songs are what really count. The rest of the CD is made up of the Zakary Thaks. - Bruce Eder, All Music Guide Read more Less