08 March 2017

FLOPHOUSE self titled 1990

by request
 
 

AllMusic Review by

The only full-length album from Flophouse has an appealing combination of folksy twang and acoustic/electric din. Some of the songs sound like rocked-up versions of old Appalachian tunes, but they all spring from the pen of J.C. Hopkins, who sings them in an appealing style that is reminiscent of Peter Case. This resemblance is perhaps not entirely a coincidence, since Case produced the album and plays on a few tracks. Nevertheless, this album doesn't sound quite like anything else Case has ever been associated with, thanks to Hopkins' different phrasing and the contributions of Kim Osterwalder. Her cello and violin add texture throughout, but it is her expressive but sparingly used background vocals that really lift these performances from good to great. Osterwalder, guitarist Clem Off, and Hopkins were an uncommonly good team, and it's a shame that they didn't explore this partnership more before moving in different musical directions. 

Tracklist

1 Glad To Be Unhappy
2 Long Way To Yesterday
3 Bad Blood
4 Rolling Pin
5 When The Well Runs Dry
6 Candy Colored Clowns
7 Banks Of The Damned
8 Dance Upon The Flag
9 Baby Doc Is Gone
10 Gone

 

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