Review: Mrs. Henry – Not The Kinda Girl

Mrs. Henry – Not The Kinda Girl (Blind Owl)

San Diego quartet, Mrs. Henry, play a form of classic rock that taps directly into the genre’s early/mid ‘70s prime. Their stated influences unsurprisingly include The Band, Led Zeppelin and the Stones, and they’ve also enough funky flow about them to warrant comparisons to Lowell George’s Little Feat.

“Not The Kinda Girl” is their sophomore release (the “Chicken Towne” EP was released earlier in 2013), and its five tracks showcase frontman-singer-songwriter Daniel Cervantes way with words and tunes, together with the band’s talent for self-effacing, honest-to-goodness, rock ‘n’ roll musicianship.

The one cover on the EP is the old Mae Boren Axton / Tommy Durden standard, “Heartbreak Hotel”, though obviously made famous by Elvis. Here they disembowel it, poke the innards back in with a stick, and sow it back up for our listening pleasure. Played mostly at double speed, it falls somewhere between the Magic Band and Johnny Moped, with a vocal treatment that threatens collapse at any moment.

It’s a fine version, though by no means the standout track. Indeed both the opening cut “Shake” and the expended grind of the title track vie for that particular distinction. Both tracks feature Deer Tick’s Rob Crowell on keyboards; the former a stinging, sexually charged romper-stomper with more than it fair share of infectious groove. The latter simultaneously brings to mind The Tubes, Steve Miller and Frank Zappa’s “Valley Girl”.

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Mrs. Henry CD Baby Page

Phil S.