Customer Reviews

Happytown

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm biased because I was on the inside for seven years. But I can give you a basic idea: 1) Unless you've spent a lot of time listening, it is hard to tell the difference between good and mediocre bands in Cajun music. After 12 years, this band is still the best and getting better (always the critics choice). Think of it this way: if this were wine it would be the $100 bottle. The more familiar you get, the more you will appreciate these guys. 2) You won't hear any accordions slapped on covers of rock-n-roll, or lyrics laden with alligators, crawfish, bayou moon and fais do do or blue fiddles. This is the self-expression of forward-looking musicians who deeply respect their heritage. It is not tourism. 3) This is a deep record that gets more fascinating with each listen. At times you may want to dance, but it is a complex journey of mood and emotion. 4) If you like this record, it means that you get the power of rhythm, that you are fascinated by unique regional musics, that you believe there is excellent music outside of the mainstream music industry, that you are not stuck on nostalgic musical re-hashings, that you demand the highest sonic quality and production, and that you are respected by your friends as having great taste in music. Do you get it yet? Of course, as I said, I'm biased.

This is a great band. Over the years that I have been going to see them live, and in listening to their CD's, I have realized the depth and range of their impressive talents. Happytown is a layered composite of songs that reveals its excellence with each listening. This CD has been "stuck" in my player since I bought it. From the bouncy, joyful dance tunes to the atmospheric almost eerie emotions of other songs; it proves this band is packed with talent and the ability to wed new sounds and ideas with traditional Cajun music. This all sounds a little heavy but trust me - these guys are great fun! Buy this CD - you won't be disappointed!

It's pretty cool to see a review here by Peter Schwarz, former drummer for the band - a very talented guy himself. I have to agree with Peter that this is a complex record. I have all the CD's from this group and at first I wasn't sure I liked HappyTown. It's not an "easy" record and I wouldn't recommend it for the casual Cajun listener but for those of us who lap this stuff up like dark brown gumbo, it's one of the best.

I'm the proud and happy owner of all of the CD's this band has put out. I've also had the chance to see them play live three times and they just keep on getting better at what they do. You can't hardly keep still when they're playing and they seem to have just as much fun as we do.

"Happytown" is one of my favorites, though, and the one I play the most. For a little touch of the odd, I enjoy "Seems to Me" and for sheer wild cajun crazy wonderful music I lean towards "Heat Lightning" and "Pointe aux Chenes."

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys make me want to dance and they make me want to laugh and they make me want to cry. They're a flavor of the south and a flavor of the past, all wrapped up with a modern flair. I love to play their CDs when I'm throwing a party 'cause it makes everyone want to dance.

Get the music. See the band. Learn to circle around the dancefloor to the two-step and the zydeco. If you enjoy cajun and zydeco this is as good as it gets.

There's Cajun country, Cajun pop and Cajun boogie. But Riley and the Mamou Playboys remain the sole merchants of Cajun prog rock - a style which has these southern Louisiana musicians filling dancehalls in their home state and selling out concerts around the world. Happytown, their eighth album, is yet another alt-world offering of the band's brash fusion of traditional roots with 21st century sensibilities. This time around it's an examination of the emotions of creole slave poetry with a crafty mix of fevered accordion, massive electric guitars, meticulously meshed fiddles, drum loops and sampled bits of black plantation singing from the dirty `30s. And in the hands of Riley and company it's large fun, a seductive adventure that rocks with the power of a Who concert and dazzles with the grace of a ballerina. While much of the album is built on a strong traditional backbone, only the two lead-in tracks come across as otherwise standard Cajun music - the exuberant Creole Stomp and the tipsy Big Boy Waltz. From there it's a French language free fall built on slabs of psychedelic swamp rock (Seems To Me, Patoutville, Big John, Heat Lightning)and glimpses at a warped waltz (My Children), a diabolic ballad (The Vigilantes) and rocking two-steppers (Starvation 2-Step, Poche Bridge) - quite enough to make most music lovers sit up and listen.

I like the music out of Louisiana, know little, sample around, trying to learn. This CD was one of the recs for me from amazon. I read the reviews, downloaded a few samples, ordered the CD, can't stop playing it. Wow. If all CDs were just this good!