Review: Rick Rude “Mind Cook”

Rick Rude “Mind Cook”
Salty Speakers/Cat Dead Details Later Records

If one had to compare Rick Rude’s new 5-song 7” to a moment in The Goonies, it wouldn’t be just the long overdue discovery of One Eyed Willy’s treasure, but the realization when his ship, the Inferno, breaks free from the grotto and sails out to sea.  On “Mind Cook,” the Dover quartet have finally captured their uniquely charismatic live sound on wax -at once manic and dazed, their spacious jams punctuated by powerful bursts and top notch melodies.

“Mind Cook” is an unholy amalgam of Guided By Voices, Built to Spill and Cheap Trick, but that’s just the beginning of the story here.  The unhinged riffs and often bent notes jump between reverb-soaked slack rock, mathy flourishes and powerful, driving post-rock that draw from a variety of 90’s influences.  At times, the guitar leads, angular structures and higher pitched choruses sound as much like mid-90’s Polvo as Doug Martsch.  Just like their live sets, on “Mind Cook,” Rick Rude’s clever ditties are deceptively simple as they grow and blossom with a charming lack of control that suggests the songs are actually taking on a life of their own.

Truthfully, Rick Rude could probably rest on the laurels of Ben Troy and Noah Lefebvre’s captivating guitar work, Ryan Harrison’s feverous drumming and Jordan Holtz’ bass lines, and often they do, but against post-rock norms, their indispensable vocal melodies and sprightly anthems build and animate the songs rather than just narrate them.  On the brilliant opener, “Sap,” both vocals and guitar meander fleetingly before colliding with a wall of guitar in which Troy and Lefebvre’s soaring howls coalesce in a triumphant call, “Do all you can to be a tree, grow always for the needs that be!”  It’s a worthy follow up to Guided By Voices’ “I am a Tree.”

From their attitudes to the their unflappable interplay on stage, Rick Rude exudes a exaltant mettle that’s almost impossible to duplicate and equally difficult to put on record.  For “Mind Cook,” Crawlspace Studio’s Alex Bourne and Joe Brown were up to the challenge.  Gone is the super low-fi recording style of the excellently sloppy split-tape with Kiss Concert. Bourne and Brown put the gloss and the punch in all the right places to achieve a dynamic, but by no means heavy-handed production quality.

On “54 TLOC,” bassist Jordan Holtz’s distinctive, wavering alto recalls Sadie Dupuis’ style without imitation.  When she impressively belts out the word “repetition” it unleashes a guitar torrent that ends the songs in a flurry of harmonies.  “Strombolli” is a bouncy instrumental save for a jovial breakdown anthem that declares, “Short hair, soft cheese, bronze eyes, beef squeeze,” and finishes with a lick that would make Rick Nielsen proud.  The mathy, uptempo title track is another album stand-out, merging post punk with their signature solos and changes.

Throughout the fantastic “Mind Cook,” we’re reminded of two things:  First, when’s the LP coming?  And second, that this record is the undoubtedly the product of a group of friends who, for years, have gotten lost in the blurry fun and feeling of every moment, chord and note.  And it’s impossible not to get lost with them.

Rick Rude will celebrate the release of Mind Cook on Thursday March 17th with Ursula, Family Planning and Vanishing DMC at Wrong Brain HQ in the Washington Street Mills, Dover.