[rating=9.00]
Low Cut Connie made their wacky and weird debut in 2011 with the truly fantastic record Get Out the Lotion. With its oddball album artwork and throwback soul songs like “Full of Joy” and “Johnny Cool Man”, no one knew what to make of them. It seemed the Philly-based band had just popped up out of nowhere and satisfied every hankering you never even knew you had. And then, if you were lucky enough, you saw them live, then you got a taste for front man Adam Weiner’s monkey-like showmanship. An insanely energetic leader, he moved from the piano bench to the edge of the back of a chair in seconds, and made the microphone is bitch.
Since then, Low Cut Connie has been busy, but has flown mostly under the radar, releasing their follow up Call Me Sylvia in 2012. But not for long. Their latest Hi Honey is a powerhouse that will no doubt get them the attention they so deserve.]
Initially just Weiner and fellow founding member Dan Finnemore, Low Cut Connie has grown to include James Everhart and Will Donnelly, and you can hear it in their sound. Hi Honey features a more full-band sound, but with that same retro rockabilly soul aesthetic they’ve always done so well. Produced by Thomas Brenneck (Charles Bradley, Alabama Shakes, Black Lips, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings), that soulful sound has been deepened and more polished. There’s a raucousness to their songs, like they’re just completely losing their shit in the best way. Weiner sounds like a wild man on songs like “Taste So Good” and “Danny’s Outta Money.”
Hi Honey has a heavy 1960s vibe to it, which is so well suited to what Low Cut Connie does best. “Danny’s Outta Money” has that old Elton John pop sound, and “Shake it Little Tine”, “Diane (Don’t Point That Thing at Me)” and “The Royal Screw” are theatrical and cheeky. Weiner and Finnemore have always injected a hilarious, often perverted, over-the-top sense of humor into their songwriting, setting themselves apart. “You got extensions in your royal ‘do”, Weiner sings on “The Royal Screw”, putting a high maintenance chick in her place. Weiner’s bellow is Low Cut Connie’s secret weapon, but his band knows how to back him up. “Dumb Boy” is a harmonious explosion of all their sounds, with an almost Britpop edge to it.
The hot twinkling of Weiner’s piano keys add life to each of the songs on the album, along with his boisterous vocals and totally unself-conscious demeanor. Hi Honey feels the most cohesive out of all Low Cut Connie’s records, with one solid sound throughout. Whereas Lotion had moments of country, moments of pure rockabilly and elements of punk garage rock, Honey is a soul-rock record through and through. “Me N Annie” captures this sound the best, and is a standout that will warrant countless listens.
If anyone has yet to hear of Low Cut Connie, Hi Honey is the album that will jolt them to awareness. The electric energy coming out of this band is something special, and it radiates through each song on Honey, a serious blast.
