Customer Reviews

Tied to the Tracks

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One of my all-time fave albums & one totally underrated/ignored/misunderstood! What we have here is an absolutely unique form of blues but one adapted to the modern world. All songs are perfect pieces of catchy melodies with tasty lyrics on clever topics and always provide a particularly varied listening. The playing is of course faultless with great guitar, some slide, lots of harp, driving bass lines and percussions that sounds like no other in some kind of rockabilly style and, to top it all, Mark Sandman's great vocals. All this eventually creates a special brew helped by a neat production. Somebody even heard a saxophone somewhere, probably the product of some ignored capacities of reading into the future, when, after countless playings (and this is probably the album I've played the most of all so far), I still don't. It all sounds gorgeous, swings or rocks all the way through leaving you with a feeling of frustration, longing for more when it abruptly stops.

They made some other albums, good but sadly missing this level of magical perfection. Mark Sandman would of course eventually adapt the recipe, replacing guitar & harp with a saxophone (not a virtual one coming right away from the future this time!) to create Morphine, another maverick combo, and meet more recognition for his talents before sadly passing away.

This album it makes you feel cooler for just having listened to it. From beginning to end, there is an incredible artistry in the simplicity of the music that lends itself well to the unique lyrical content. Treat Her Right had a tremendous dynamic that has seldom if ever been reproduced. It's such a shame that this album and all of the other Treat Her Right albums are so hard to find.

Treat Her Right is one of those rare bands that makes you think about what you were doing in life when you heard them. For me, it was college in the mid to late '80s. A buddy turned me onto them. Hip, knowing, with the chops to back it up...that was Treat Her Right and later Morphine. Treat Her Right had "it." They merge genres. If you ever had the definitive noir movie this side of Chinatown it would feature a Morphine or Treat Her Right soundtrack. Pciture of the Future and Junk Yard are especially strong, forceful enought that I recall them after almost 20 years. Think of them as a more sinister Credence.

I agree with "Johnny Trouble" that this one is even better than THR's debut album. It doesn't have as much of the raw energy as the debut, but it holds together much better stylistically. I think the greater coherence is largely because the band has more of the Mark Sandman sound on this album. Junkyard, No Reason, King of Beers, and Hank are all great cuts (not to denigrate the others, which are also excellent). Get this out of print CD while you can -- it's a keeper.

I have to admit that I'm a little biased: I'm a huge Treat Her Right fan and think that everything they released in their too-short lifespan was awesome. It's 20 years later and I still listen to their material on a regular basis. The first, self-titled album gets all the accolades but I find myself putting this album on more often. Just my preference, I suppose. I find it criminal that their discs are out of print, but this one seems to sell for less than the others on the used market and it's a steal. Grab this one and the others while you still can.