Quick Hitters:: Dress Up Like a Hooker, I'll Be Charlie Sheen

To be fair, naming your band Dress up Like a Hooker, I'll be Charlie Sheen, is the musical equivalent of that terrible speech from Tom Cruise in Jerry Macguire. You had me at hello (well, I guess you had me at the mention of the whoring around era of Chazz's life). Either way, Alberta lo-fi technician Jeremy Sroka has a couple of records full of home recordings and is trying to spice up your weekend by giving them away for free.

He describes his sound as, "if Jack Johnson and Bright Eyes made a baby and let Evan Dando raise it" but I actually have no idea what that means, so I’ll put my own two pennies into the mix. After a couple long listens to hi-five for lo-fi (LP), I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. In a typical cover of the book judgment, I kind of thought the songs would be lo rent, repetitive programmed beats and ridiculous lyrics. Instead, Jeremy uses barely audible guitar work, rough vocals, samples (including the awesome scene from High Fidelity where Cusack screams at his ex from the street), some harmonies and scattered textures to draw you close.

Despite the lo-fi recording techniques – and avoiding any of the inane posturing about the harmful rise of lo-fi electronic jams that got the interweb all in a tizzy – this record is surprisingly light and melodic. Tracks like Lovely Day are engaging and Sroka lets his fingers do the talking with some solid guitar work. The seaside shuffle of when one night stands go wrong worms its way into your cranium.

Admittedly, the 12 song LP is a bit much to digest, simply because even the strongest songs blend into each other after a couple of listens. But almost any track (Smile and because my headphones broke are probably my favs) would make a solid addition to a mixtape playlist. So do yourself a favor and head over to his myspace and get the goods.

MP3:: Dress Up Like a Hooker, I'll Be Charlie Sheen - Because My Headphone Broke

MP3:: Dress Up Like a Hooker, I'll Be Charlie Sheen - Smile

MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/dressuplikeahookerillbecharliesheen

Labels: Alberta, Canada, Dress Up Like a Hooker, Edmonton, I'll Be Charlie Sheen, Music