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Like far too many ultra-talented individuals, KEVIN JUNIOR is a major cult artist still waiting for his cult. A fine singer and guitarist and an exceptional songwriter, able to mix raw rock & roll and finely crafted pop without sounding schizophrenic (it’s telling that he’s recorded and toured with both NIKKI SUDDEN and his brother EPIC SOUNDTRACKS), the Akron native/longtime Chicago resident has made a handful of remarkable records, of which his pair with the CHAMBER STRINGS are the most well-known. Ruins, as indicated by the subtitle, gathers up various stray tracks: demos, live cuts, tribute album contributions, a couple of cuts from his pre-Strings band the ROSEHIPS and one by his first recorded group the MYSTERY GIRLS.
Most of the tunes come from the Strings’ repertoire, from a trio of bonus cuts from the group’s debut album (an alternate take of “Telegram” and covers of BURT BACHARACH and DAN PENN) to great B-sides (the brief but gorgeous “Beautiful Mothers & Somebody’s Wife” and a rocking take on “No More Songs”) to solo demos (“Thank My Lucky Stars,” “Sleepy Night,” “Dead Man’s Poise”) that prove how focused Junior’s vision was/is. There are also covers of the REAL KIDS (“Common at Noon”), JOHNNY THUNDERS (“It’s Not Enough”) and THIN LIZZY (“Whisky in the Jar”), all of which take great liberties with the original arrangements to marvelous effect. Longtime Junior watchers will be thrilled to hear a trio of Rosehips songs (the Strings-performed “It’s Not Worth Fighting,” “Gorgeous Nowhere,” the spectacular “Rag Doll,” possibly the quintessential Junior song) from the impossibly rare ‘hips LP Soul Veronique in Parchment, not to mention a single Mystery Girls tune, a squalling in-concert cut of “Contact High.” The collection rounds out with a pair of oddities – a Junior-sung track called “Kevin Junior,” written and performed by the HUSHDROPS, and “Dead Endings,” an accidental mash-up of the Strings songs “For the Happy Endings” and “Our Dead Friends.”
With such varied sources the fidelity is all over the place, but the excellent songs and performances shine through the murk, and really sparkle in the professionally recorded tracks. Junior (who’s working with a reconvened Chamber Strings) is one of the rock & roll underground’s keenest talents, and despite its motley origins, Ruins shows him in a bright light.
http://sunthunderrecords.com
http://hankypankyrecords.com
