King Louie & The Loose Diamonds Memphis Treet Empty Records 2007. ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- I like this album a lot. To put it extremely simple, it's a great no-frills, sleazy powerpop record. I don't think King Louie has recorded a cleaner sounding album; though, that's not saying too much. The man is loved for his blown-out attack on stereo speakers and trail of battered ears everywhere. Worlds poppier than the Persuaders and way more thick than his one-man band, The Loose Diamonds have nailed a slow, southern drawl-heavy powerpop record. This is one of those records that hit me immediately on the first track. Honestly, I've been growing a little tired of the garage releases that have been coming out in the last few months. Gettin' a little burned out on 'em even, which was making me start to worry. Anyway, this was a complete breath of fresh air. This and the new Brimstone Howl album came out within weeks of each other and completely reinstated my faith in the good ol' rawk. Each track is worthy of an A side on a 7". Each track is slick and as sleazey as a wide-open toothless grin. It's perfect. In place of throwing on filler tracks, King Louie & Co. have added a few instrumentals tracks into the sequence to bridge a few songs. The instrumentals deliver just as nicely as the rest of the album. They're a bit more picked and twangy than the songs, but they seamlessly keep the album glued together. The Loose Diamonds, who are they? Well, they're none other than Jack Yarber (Oblivian), Harlan T. Bobo, Adam Woodward, Chad Booth and even a little extra production and guitar work from none other than Jimbo Mathus. About a month ago this album came out. I've had it on the player non-stop and pushed it on many friends. Today the 8th copy has been sold since its release. That's an average of about two albums a week. For the size of my closet-sized shop, that's a good amount of sales and pushes this album up to the heights of being one of my best sellers. -chaz martenstein. myspace. empty records. buy from bull city records.