Mystery, thrills and hard-boiled swing!

The teaser on the front of the CD cover-- the one illustrated by a saxophoned gangster hiding in the obligatory shadows of the crime-ridden underworld circa 1940—was a strong indication that Royal Crown Review’s Mugzy’s Move would be uncharted territory for me. I don’t know the first thing about swing! (A fact to which my old ballroom dance instructor can attest. Yes, I took ballroom dance as a PE requirement in college... I sucked. But it was still better than badminton, no?)

I therefore was a little frightened when Sloucho picked out this swing-revival band for me to review as part of the Pop-Your-Cherry Write-Off. But, the point here is to expose yourself to something new, so I gamely searched for it at a used CD store and found it for $5. (That means I’d better get at least 500 people to read this to make my money back!) I still feel it necessary to offer my apologies to anyone whose swing-sensibilities I might offend by trying to review this band. I know I am extremely ill-qualified to do this album justice in a serious review, but, alas, without further ado, here are the thoughts of a bona fide swing virgin on listening to Mugzy’s Move:

Royal Crown Revue embraces and emulates the sound of 1940s swing/jazz sincerely and enthusiastically. The boys of RCR actually seem so enamored of this sound that, on first listen, the album almost has a masquerade-y, if not theme park-ish feel to it. One can’t help but get the feeling that the guys once dressed as old-school gangsters in Zoot Suits and wing tips for a Halloween party years ago and never looked back, er... forward. Not only does RCR replicate the music of this time period with astonishing panache, but the lyrics tend to be filled with stereotypical 40s gangster jargon.

Hey, all you cool cats! Throw your mittens around your kittens and check out the lyrics to the opening track, Hey Pachuco: “Summer ’43 the man’s gunnin for me/Blue and white mean war tonight/They say damn my pride and all/The other cats livin down the east side/Tonight there’s no place to hide.” With most of the songs making reference to gangsters and wise guys, this album would make the perfect soundtrack for any old James Cagney movie. The interesting thing about this is that Mugzy’s Move was actually released in 1996—fifty years after Cagney’s heyday in Hollywood playing bad guys. With that in mind, it’s almost hard to take Mugzy’s Move any more seriously than you do your first grown up cocktail party, complete with formal wear.

But you can’t argue with the fact that it does make you want to get up and dance, and that’s definitely a good thing (please ignore the shrieks of horror from the aforementioned dance instructor). With the opening horns of Hey Pachuco, RCR grabs you with their infectious energy and doesn’t let go until somewhere midway through the album. At times the music drifts toward a more jazzy and mellow vibe on songs such as I Love the Life I Live and Beyond the Sea, but always comes back to the high-energy swing they do best before it’s all over and done with. Frontman Eddie Nichols’ vocals are just Sinatra-Smooth enough to be convincing, and he is more than capably backed by the song-stealing horns and rhythm section.

Overall, Mugzy’s Move is an entertaining listen, from start to finish. I’m not sure, though, when I’d ever be in the mood to pop it in the CD player without feeling a little silly. If I do one day throw my very own grown-up cocktail party, it will definitely come in handy. And if I owned a classy martini and jazz bar or a smoky, dimly lit coffee shop, I would certainly not hesitate to put this disc on rotation.

Please go check out the other daring participants of this Write-Off!

45rpm
brotherman
Christoff
jkkelley
kellydeal
repulsemonkey
Sloucho





Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Getting ready to go out