by Tim Sendra
The Fresh & Onlys' debut record, Grey-Eyed Girls, was a murky, clattering, quite often thrilling mash-up of '60s West Coast psych, the Cramps, and ramshackle garage rock that put them at the top of the noise pop heap. On the follow-up, Play It Strange, the San Francisco group cleans up the clatter and noise and ditches the psychobilly influence in favor of a slightly twangy sound that creeps up on country-rock at times. It’s a trade-off most bands make as they mature, nuance instead of noise, and the Fresh & Onlys manage to do it well by keeping most of the things that made them good, like the catchy songwriting, the intense performances, and singer Timothy Cohen's deeply idiosyncratic vocals. He’s a little less affected and arch this time out, which makes him less … » Read more