Big Star (1974) She's a Mover -LOST70sGEMS

 Radio City was Big Star's most complete collection full of pop rock zing and roots rock picking as well as hard rock blues licks to cover mainstream bases; which is odd how they never really made it. O My Soul starts the album off in a quirky rockabilly guitar noodling meets Bingo organ, its an odd one even after Alex Chilton's familiar pop rock zing enters as the off sounding cheap organ a stink up the track while the rockabilly steadily meshes with the more 70s hard rock rhythm section as the song progresses and the band seems to reflect Rush, who wouldn't debut til this same year. Life is White is a more straightforward rock n roll strut with crashing power chords arpeggios and walking bassline and stop start crescendos; the only distinct element is the far off harmonica chamber echo which sounds like a alien sound with some pretty effective filtering. The band were always top notch studio professionals with every inch of the master taken up, here we have a honky tonk piano enter in towards the end to fill out some of the humdrum hard rockin going on as well as being populated with little blues fills and a walking rhtymm section.

Way Out West carries some brighter fluid guitar lines that twinkle, but are in fact a bright guitar and an reverb guitar playing arpeggios and glissando-es. What's Going Ahn does what they do best with a dark subtle folk strum, You get What You Deserve has a British Beat group sound, while Mod Lang references Parliament's I Wanna Testify and seems to have inspired Ace's How Long. Back of the Car and Daisy Glaze are full of atmosphere and dynamics, while the melodic She's a Mover is easily a tribute to the Byrds with Alex channelling Roger McGuinn's Lennon meets Dylan type of vocals. September Gurls was another very talented song with it's drawling laidback beat making me of late 70s New Wave bands from England particularly in the downbeat yet jangling guiatr chords and semi-sighing vocals. Th Last two songs Morpha Too and I'm in Love with a Girl sound like the more intimate almost solo McCartneys songs such as Yesterday, Blackbird and Here, There and Everywhere.