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Wally Gagel's resume is mightily impressive. His first band opened for the
Clash on its debut American tour. He worked at Boston's renowned Fort Apache studios, putting in production time with college radio heavyweights like
Buffalo Tom,
Superchunk, and
Juliana Hatfield. He also produced and cowrote the Folk Implosion's only Top 40 hit, "Natural One," leading to further studio work with the
Eels and
Old 97's. But Gagel's solo debut under the Production Club moniker owes little to his prolific alternative music career, sounding instead like it was cooked up in the back room of some London club circa 1996. Embracing the pummeling beats and seamless sonic wizardry of the
Chemical Brothers and
Fatboy Slim, tracks like "My Brother Moves" and "Devil's Kiss" are as kinetic and fiercely ambitious as his previous clients' work was listless. However, Gagel isn't intent on rewriting history: he recruits
X's John Doe,
Sebadoh's Lou Barlow, and
Belly's
Tanya Donelly, among others, for a series of inspired cameos that neatly tie his story together.
--Aidin Vaziri