A Portrait In Time

Reviewed by

Matthew "Shug" Wester
Memphis, TN
July 2003

One of the strengths of the Mother Hips was that, like a handful of other great bands, they were constantly changing their sound. To their credit, the Mother Hips never made the same record twice and looking back through their catalog and hearing how their music evolved and matured from record to record makes for an interesting examination of the development of a fine rock band.

Shootout, the Mother Hips’ third album, is at once a transitional record, bridging the stylistic gap from the hard, edgy and sometimes dark and strange rock of Part Timer Goes Full to the crafted country rock of Later Days. There is a logical progression from each record to the next when Shootout is placed between those two. However, Shootout also stands strongly on its own as a portrait in time of a band which was not only continuing to come into its own stylistically, but one which had also accumulated enough diverse influences to create a compelling and impressive original synthesis of those styles. It also is significant as evidence for the maturing songwriting of singer/guitarist Tim Bluhm who was beginning to write somber, reflective songs with a serious emotional impact about the complexities of human actions and interactions. The title track and “Emergency Exit”, in particular, demonstrate his emerging power, the later being perhaps the first in what would become a long series of heart-wrenching and staggeringly beautiful songs that are ample testimony to his songwriting genius.

Shootout retains many of the familiar elements of the early Mother Hips style: rhythm-heavy grooves that chug and stagger along (thanks in large part to the wonderfully loose and swinging drumming of Mike Wofchuck on what would be his last Mother Hips recording), clever wordplay (“Single Spoon”) and happy, beach-inspired California rock (“Mother Hips” and “Picture Of Him”), but it also heralds the arrival of a sound grounded in more traditional American music: country, rock, and blues (but not bluegrass!). Much of Shootout has a decidedly Western feel (check the saloon rock ‘n’ roll of “Whiskey On A Southbound” with its slightly out-of-tune tack piano and the twangy flourishes and codas of “So Much”, “Shootout”, and “Engagement Ring”). The album packaging, with its gunfighter imagery, as well as mentions of Utah and Colorado and trains and bars in small mountain towns, gives the impression of a band making an unmistakable stylistic statement. Mandolin, dobro guitar, harmonica, and banjo reinforce this image of a band rooted in a particular historical place and time. Not as obvious, though, is an element of blue-eyed soul new to the Mother Hips. On “I Can’t Sleep At All” Hammond organ (courtesy of temporary part-time member Dan Eisenberg) has the Hips sounding like a late 60’s soul/beat combo (think Spencer Davis Group working out on “Gimme Some Lovin’”). It comes on with a swelling wash of Hammond B-2, guitars and an ecstatic, joyful lyric:

“Bright sunshine/come and wake my friends up/because I just need someone to talk to/ I can’t sleep at all”

and then pulls a classic Hips maneuver: the trademark momentary slowing down of the tempo as the band drops into a unison groove which then explodes into a fast, rocking crescendo. Sliding right into the eponymous “Mother Hips”, one of the most popular songs in the Hips catalog, the optimism this record opens with is palpable, setting a sunnier vibe than either Part Timer or Back To The Grotto.

The album carries on with the funky, grooving, Chico backyard party rock of “Honeydew” and the slow-burning barnstormer, “Transit Wind”. Interspersed in between are melodic, lush ballads [“Collected Some Nerve” and “So Much”] that show off the increasing harmony vocal talents of Bluhm and guitarist/singer Greg Loiacono. And while “Two River Blues” and “Superwinner” (a hidden track) flat out rock, glimpses of a new sadness can be seen in world-weary songs of broken dreams and the high prices paid trying to make them come true [“Emergency Exit”, “Engagement Ring”, “Shootout”]. It seems the Mother Hips were learning that hard work, dedication, and sincere desire are not always enough to achieve one’s goals. In retrospect, it is clear that the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle was taking its toll on the Mother Hips.

“How much would you sell your lifetime for?/ Would you give up the way you were brought up for something you love?/ How much do you think that you’ve got to lose?/ I bet that its more than you would ever choose/ so give me an emergency exit/ gets me out of here”

“And if the world is getting smaller, Evangeline, how come I have to holler ever louder in the music halls at night?”

This record, arguably the strongest the Hips had yet made, fit in well with the music of other more popular artists, such as the Black Crowes, Lenny Kravitz, and Joan Osbourne, that were also drawing inspiration from the rich wellspring of distinctly American popular music. The quality of the band’s new record, the energy they gave out in their live shows, their dedicated following in the West as well as some ultimately unfortunate, backfiring media hype made the Mother Hips seem perched on the brink of the success they deserved. Shootout even had hotshot producer/engineer Neill King (Green Day) working with the band at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA. Shootout should have been the record that brought the Hips new legions of fans, but that was not to be due to a variety of factors, notably the shameful failure of American Records to promote the record (soon after described in “Third Floor Story”).

The Hips never achieved the critical mass in the growth of their audience that the quality of their music warranted, but they have left behind a fine collection of studio recordings, of which Shootout is one of the finest.