The Days of Lore

Dearest Mother

Saturday, November 15th, 2008 | musiX | No Comments

What a difference 492 miles makes. I’ve traveled to my former stomping ground of Chico for some pre-Thanksgiving festivities. The crystal-blue sky and sun-glazed trees in California always makes me think of backyard get-togethers with friends and road trips—windows down, stereo up. The perfect soundtrack? The Mother Hips.

The band got its start here in the dorms of Chico State, flirted with commercial success in the ’90s, relocated to San Francisco, battled the dreaded (and lazy and erroneous) jam-band label, battled personal demons, took an indefinite hiatus, and made some of the finest rock albums of the past 15 years.

The Hips came out at a time when Chico was divided by hippie-dippy Dead followers (influenced by the town’s longest-running band Spark ‘n’ Cinder) and bands like The Downsiders and Trench, who were revolting against anything that reeked of patchouli. Looking back on that time, Mother Hips singer and guitarist Tim Bluhm explained that he never thought the Hips fit in either camp, and that they built their sound on their own random tastes.

“We mostly just had the records in our house: Leonard Cohen, Black Sabbath, Gene Clark, Led Zeppelin, Merle Haggard, the Bee Gees. It came out kind of weird, but we liked it.”

Those influences tell it all. Distorted guitars were tempered by Bluhm and fellow guitarist/vocalist Greg Loiacono’s sweet harmonies. Early songs had multiple parts with out-of-left-field dynamic shifts. Later they would adopt more simple, pop arrangements, and in 1998 the band released a stripped-down country gem called Later Days, one of their best.

The Mother Hips recently performed at San Francisco’s Cafe Du Nord, playing three and a half hours of music from one fan’s ultimate setlist which was chosen weeks before. The marathon performance is available for 10 bucks (three discs’ worth) exclusively at the band’s Web site. Bluhm told me recently the Hips are currently in the studio working on the follow-up to 2007’s excellent Kiss the Crystal Flake. I was glad to hear it. At this point I don’t think I can imagine not having The Mother Hips around. Take them along with you on your next road trip, windows down, stereo up.

“Been Lost Once” - The Mother Hips (Live at Cafe Du Nord)

“TGIM” - The Mother Hips (Kiss the Crystal Flake)

“Stunt Double” - The Mother Hips (Later Days)

Tags: Bee Gees, Black Sabbath, Chico State University, Gene Clark, Greg Loiacono, Jackie Greene, Kiss the Crystal Flake, Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, Merle Haggard, Spark 'n' Cinder, The Downsiders, The Mother Hips, Tim Bluhm, Trench