I Want Some
Make Up preach punk-rock gospel with three-chord minimalist rave-ups infused with a whole lotta soul. Imagine some kind ofPrince/James Brownbastard stepchild raised on DIY ethics and DC punk. Ian Svenonius struts and prances his vocal pyrotechnics all over the funky backdrop, ranting, pleading, whispering, and shouting from his pulpit.I Want Somecollects the best of Make Up singles, released on a host of indie labels, and the result, easily their best album, is jangled, whacked out, and splenetic. Though Make Up (like their predecessors Nation of Ulysses) imagine themselves as some kind of socialist-DIY collective, neither their half-baked political rants nor their hip cultural critiques are worth taking seriously. But the frenetic groove they hit on "Born on the Floor," the shake-your-ass stomp of "Pow! to the People," and the agonized soulful croon of "Walking on the Dune"--now that's serious.--Tod Nelson