The WyattChristmas Five – Are You Ready?
Part Records
13 songs time – 43:53
The clearest description for this German outfits’ music is cabaret music tempered with 50s rock, rockabilly, swing, show tunes, boogie woogie and a taste of blues. It is mainly light fluff in lyrical content and presentation, although the instrumentation is first rate. Andy WyattChristmas handles guitar and most vocals The songs were penned by various combinations of Andy, piano player Miss Martini and vocalist-guitarist-harmonica player Grandpa Pete. Olaf Schumacher on upright bass and Philip Flottau on drums.
It is really hard to take this mess seriously with lyrics like “Lots of flies buzzin’ round, rotten pieces of Polish Sausage” from the goofy “Riot In My Trashcan”. It is a shame because the accompanying music is fine. The intro to “800 Miles” sounds like an outtake from the Westside Story soundtrack. Some of these songs might work as punk, but these guys seem to take their creations seriously. Who writes a song about their friend digging a hole for a pool? Check out “My Best Friend Went Crazy” for the answer.
“Please Do Like You Did It” and “I Am Waiting” have overly repetitive lyrical refrains. “Calling Your Name” is straight out of a bad Cabaret act. A “Jailhouse Rock” vibe is attained on the rockabilly of “Too Far Too Long Away”. The title track “Are You Ready” is a bit of jump blues that sports some good harmonica courtesy of Grandpa Pete. He applies his harp again to the otherwise lightweight “Devil’s Got A Hand On Me”. Miss Martini lays down some mean boogie woogie piano riffing to the rather lame “Alligator Bar Boogie”.
You would think that a band of such competent musicians could come up with better songs with more substantial lyrical content. They could put out a killer instrumental album featuring their guitar, piano and harmonica skills all backed up by a sturdy rhythm section. Well, I guess after a few libations this music will make sense.
