Lunch of Champions

Run for the Hills!!! It’s the Goddamn Gleam!!!!

The cover of “Lookout For Evils” features a boy in a cowboy hat covering his eyes, trying to avoid what must be a rowdy band of cowboys driving up the road in a beat up pickup truck. Those country boys are the goddamn Gleam, and don’t you forget it! The boy is scared, but still curious. His blue eyes can be seen peaking through the holes in his fingers.

He is right to cover his eyes, fore when the Gleam comes round, you best be runnin’ for the hills. This is a rowdy ass band. The type of band that could headline a show at a scary, wooden biker bar in the middle of Mississippi. These guys have tattoos on their forearms and holes in their mouth where teeth used to be. They wear shirts that say, “Tell yr ma I had better.” Rowdy.

The Gleam – High ‘N’ Mighty

They drink too much, and they probably don’t get enough sleep. Their eyes are always red, and their legs are always tired. If they had barbers, you wouldn’t know it from the knotted up locks they sport. Their girlfriends have to force them to put on a tie for their cousin’s wedding. They eat too much venison and don’t shower enough. These guys are dirty cowboys. Or at least that’s how I picture them.

This, most recent release by the Gleam, is an album that makes me want to get a girl, head out to the nearest dive bar, get drunk, and dance until I puke at 3 a.m. The girl and I will yell and throw beer at the band, which will make the band swear at us, which, in turn, will make us want to dance more and swear more. We will get rowdy because the band is rowdy. This is, after all, the goddamn Gleam!

“Lookout For Evils” is rock and roll taken straight from the Iron Range in Minnesota, an area of the country famous for producing mineworkers similar to those found in Zoolander’s family tree. It is among the better albums I have heard this year. But what can I say? The Gleam knows how to bring it.

The album starts with “Morning Horses”, a nice little waltz that moves into a rock song. After about 3 minutes of niceness, the rowdiness kicks off with “Witches -N- Winos (Never Been Better)”, a song that will make you want to start drinking. But don’t drink too fast – There’s still 26 minutes or so of music to go!

We get a nice little interlude in “I Knew A Girl Who Would Crown Yr Head In Gold” before breaking out the beating stick on “Liars And Thieves”, which is followed by the album’s best track. “High -N- Mighty” is a foot-stomping good time about being on the losing end of love. The song asks the good lord:

Hey high and mighty, what do you have in store for me?
I just hope it’s a little sweeter than what you showed me already.

“Lock Up Yr Children” gets back into the rowdy feel, as the beat up old Fender Telecaster guitars rip through the speakers, setting the listener up for a crooner about wearing out your welcome, “Trouble I’m In”. From there, it is a quick ten minutes and four songs until the last track, “Ever We Climb (No.2)”, which is a good, old fashioned sing-a-long:

Summary: If you like old school Rolling Stones tracks with a little bit of rawness peppered in, then you will love this album.