Orange Mothers
Big Blue House (Jim Thunder)
Three songs about birds. Three? Plus cheery paeans to childhood, the old world, and various inanimate objects, all sung wistfully and played simply on drum, guitar, bass and cheesy keyboard. Devoid of the heavy reverb and drone that the band once hid behind, Big Blue House finds the Mothers finally ready to come out and play — like a three-year-old butt-bare in the yard diving through the lawn sprinkler. It’s a joyful experience, one that’s strangely appealing in a crossover rock/country way. The band’s song structures are mostly slow to mid-tempo rock, but their guilelessness and occasional flirtations with bluegrass fiddle (such as on their umpteenth revisit to “Riverboat Gambler”) bring them solidly into country territory. Such wide-eyed innocence hasn’t permeated so deeply into rock since the early days of the Modern Lovers, and the two genres often mesh here in a way that would do the Byrds proud. The Orange Mothers’ sense of humor and ability to rock your socks off is proudly on display here, as well; check out the clearly labeled “hidden track,” which might well be the band’s “Roadrunner” except that it’s thankfully not about a damn bird!
This article appears in June 30 • 2000.