Thursday, November 23, 2023

Albums of the Year # 33 Radiator Hospital - Can't Make any Promises

 



Today's a rather special day for me emotionally. Ten years ago I started this writing and musical endeavor and today I'm in double digits, 19,504 posts later. No time, (or only a moment), to pause and smell the coffee. Onward we go. I've come across another good one. 

What on earth is a Radiator Hospital. A hospital where radiators convalesce? Search me. In this case they're a band. driven by Michigan born and bred songwriter, Sam Cook-Parrott. They've been around for at least a decade now and now find themselves in Philly mostly. That's all the backgound information you're getting. If you want more, seek out The Internet.

They're as good a band as any to celebrate the tenth anniversary of It Starts With a Birthstone because they've got plenty of what I appreciate about guitar based music, (the loose genre I probably appreciate most). This, as I've testified many, many times on here, kicked into gear when I first bought Murmur in late 1983 and began to fall in love with it and a whole way of listening to music.

Radiator Hospital have plenty of mystery and guile. The same DNA as R.E.M. back then.  Give their latest album, Can't Make any Promises a listen, if you don't believe me. It has everything that makes this odd pursuit, so incredibly special. Namely,  a group of people who feel they've got something in common, gathering  together to make a noise and almost by accident producing a work of art instead.

I loved Can't Make any Promises on first play. At some point in 2023 I'll put it on a list. Really you could ask for nothing more. Its spiritual twins are Teenage Fanclub and Dinosaur Jr. Oh and early R.E.M. You couldn't ask or better adopted kin. I get the impression that Peter Buck would appreciate this too. It brims with ramshackle, melodic joy.

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