English Rock. . .from Boston: Mittens' Fools on a Holiday

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Boston's Mittens say that their influences are Squeeze and such, but as I listen to the sway of “Leeway,” the opening track of their Fools on a Holiday album, I see Rhett Miller swinging his hips while doing his lazy windmill guitar while Murry Hammond plucks out the rockabilly bass line. Mittens isn’t AltCountry, and Tom Novotny doesn’t have Miller’s voice, but attitude is everything. That swaggering rhythm, which is a throwback to all things Kinks, Elvis, and Johnny Cash, is what catches my attention.

With that combination of sounds, it’s no surprise to find Pete Weiss (Weisstronauts) behind the production desk whose own instrumentals tap into surf rock-border rock-rockabilly. The guitar sound on “Douglas” makes it easy to imagine an old high school gym stage, a Stratocaster, and a Fender amp, but Mittens also takes the song through the rock range of Mood Elevator, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, and the Brakes. Then “Splish, Splash, I Was Taking a Bath” in the 50’s jukebox rock for the live cut “Street Sweeper.”

“Half a Dozen” comes back to strut sway falling in step with the Kinks and Spearmint. Listen to the interlude “We Chop Wood” for the piano-led Jerry Lee Lewis rockabilly. “Like a Shot” takes the Byrds-derivative sound of the High Dials, the Delays, and Sharks & Minnows, while leaving some room for the acoustic-led urgent English Rock of the Housemartins.

Thanks to Mittens and Bodies of Water Arts and Crafts for the review CD.