The Doohickeys – All Hat No Cattle
What’s interesting here is how the silly-named Glendale, CA duo The Doohickeys manages to do what many contemporary country artists don’t get. This city-folk duo creates songs that are catchy & you don’t need a net. They understand what radio-friendly songs can generate & they have found a motherlode.
There are 12 distinctive tunes rain barrel deep on All Hat No Cattle (Drops Jan. 24/Forty Below/40:58). It includes Missouri singer Haley Spence Brown & her tongue-in-cheek “This Town Sucks.” Together, they have a lock on country humor & create songs that raise ears & eyebrows & get saloon patrons to slap their knees.
“I Don’t Give a Damn About Football,” will lose football fans & gain folks like wives & girlfriends who detest this sports intrusion on their Sunday drives, Dairy Queen runs & lawn mowing. Did I leave anything out? (I’m not a big football fan so I sympathize).
“Rein It In Cowboy” reeks of a humor-borne sweet aroma. Haley Spence Brown’s excellent vocals wrap around the honey-sweet melody & on “You Can’t Dance” she has a bit of Rubber Rodeo’s Trish Milliken’s vocal richness (“Anywhere With You”). Meanwhile…
Jack Hackett (harmony/electric & acoustic guitar) from Atlanta has a homegrown good-natured vocal expression that works quite well on “Can’t Beat My Ol’ Beater.” Eric Corne (harmony) produced & recorded the LP in CA. With the innuendo-filled “I Wish My Truck Was Bigger,” a dedicated listener would wonder if this duo heard much of Randy Newman & Harry Nilsson. Their kind of humor is here with lyrical twists & biting satire depth. The late John Prine understood the value of stretching a story’s humor for the sake of a song, uh in spite of ourselves.
Haley’s pristine voice even slides briefly into a childish Melanie Safka tone on “Farm Lawyer” & then with a Scotty Moore-like lead guitar is “Mr. Fix It.” All novelty-oriented tunes for sure but written & performed with entertaining skill. More serious is “Too Ugly To Hitchhike.” A dark little tune that’s Los Lobos-Rank & File superb. Haley sweeps into “All Hat No Cattle” with a rich & rootsy Dolly Parton-Reba McIntyre-type vocal — excellent. A talented duo.
Highlights – “Rein It In Cowboy,” “Can’t Beat My Ol’ Beater,” “This Town Sucks,” “I Don’t Give a Damn About Football,” “I Wish My Truck Was Bigger,” “All Hat No Cattle” & “You Can’t Dance.”
Musicians – Haley (harmony/acoustic guitar), Jordan Bush (pedal steel/banjo/harmonica), Adam Arcos (bass), Matt Tecu (drums), Ward Brown (pedal steel), Aubrey Richmond & Korey Simeone (fiddles), Sasha Smith (keys/organ), Eugene Edwards (lead guitar), Skip Edwards (keys), Phil Glenn (mandolin), Hayley Orrantia (harmony), Taylor Kropp (Resonator), Matt Safranek (baritone guitar) & Jim Jeffries (grandpa on cut 10).
Cover photo courtesy of Jesse DeFlorio. CD @ https://www.thedoohickeysband.com/ & https://fortybelowrecords.com/store-bU6aL/p/all-hat-no-cattle-by-the-doohickeys-1
Enjoy our premiere here: Song Premiere: The Doohickeys “I Wish My Truck Was Bigger”
