The Lost Fingers Review (with the answers)

OK, motards, a few weeks ago, I pointed your browsers away from porn, and to my review of the Lost Fingers. In that stellar review, I hid no less than 18 80's song titles. And here is the review, with the answers. Surely, you can now see my brilliance.

The Lost Fingers sprang to life in a northern town (Dream Academy) of Quebec, where they actually sold more albums than Nickelback. No lie. The Fingers’ music can best be termed as gypsy jazz; a genre generally credited as being pioneered by guitarist Django Reinhardt. (In fact, the band took their moniker from a Reinhardt nickname.) While being available in Canada for some time, the Fingers covers disc, Lost in the 80s is just starting to break out (Swing Out Sister) here in the States. Despite some of the suspect choices for source material-does the world need a Technotronic cover?-members Christian Roberge and Byron Mikaloff have roots in classical music, while bassist Alex Morissette holds a degree in jazz.

I am not a big fan of cover albums. It’s a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t proposition. You can’t sound too close to the original (Fab Faux), nor can you totally disrespect it. Sometimes doing a cover helps launch a decent career; acts like Cowboy Junkies and Faith Hill first started their ball rolling with covers. On the flip side, cover songs also gave us the careers of such luminaries as Marilyn Manson and Limp Bizkit. Cover albums have come along in the careers of bands whose star seems to be falling (Joan Jett, Queensryche). Alas, cover albums have also resurrected the careers of Manilow, Stewart and Cash. Generally, cover albums are novelties that garner only a few curiosity listens before fading off into your collection. So if you ever wondered what “Black Velvet” might sound like as a gypsy jazz number, then your search is over (Survivor), let the good times roll (The Cars).

Using the same acappella opening, “You Give Love a Bad Name” stays true to the original structure. Instead of rampant keys and runaway (Bon Jovi for the Bon Jovi song. Get it?)percussion, the Fingers use guitars and almost constant backing vocals. Anyone remember when Hayseed Dixie was hot on rock radio for all of a week? Well, if you do, then you should enjoy “You Shook Me All Night Long.” Skewing a bit more to the jazz/blues side with a touch of Russian folk, the tempo certainly won’t shake your foundations (AC/DC). The delivery is boozy, and a bit of Roberge’s accent peeks through.

You might think (Cars, again)there is no need to revisit Kool & the Gang’s “Fresh”, but the Fingers breathe life into the song. “Billie Jean” is a fast take, complete with the requisite backing ‘bop bops,’ ‘hee hees’ and even the high pitched squeal. They deliver a far more masculine version of “Careless Whisper” than Seether could ever muster. The Fingers transform “Straight Up” from a song you’d be embarrassed to know to a hip take on an otherwise forgettable tune. They add drama to the bridge by slowing it down over a guitar. Who knew you could create drama in a Paula Abdul song? Crazy (Paula Abdul, along with like a zillion other bands), right?

Lost in the 80s is an interesting listen. The material is disparate enough that there’s bound to be at least one familiar song for anyone born after 1980. The album is done well, with a solid mix of tongue in cheek, cheese and tight musicianship. The point here is not to be pretentious, but to have fun; a celebration (Kool & The Gang, kinda) of an age gone by. As far as replay value, it’s decent. The musicianship is solid, song structures generally remain true (Spandau Ballet)to the original and the delivery is unique. Most of the songs are spry; and good music for walking on sunshine (Katrina & the Waves), walking in LA (Missing Persons)or walking in Memphis (mark Cohn). Despite all the above, the style of music might wear thin for some; 12 songs all done in gypsy jazz can grow a tad monotonous. The most obvious shortcoming would be that the band never really deviates too much from the guitar driven sound; nary a bang on the drum (Todd Rundgren)to be heard. Vocally, there are a few limits. At times, the voice (Moody Blues)of Roberge sounds like a boozy Tom Waits; another acquired taste not everyone has. More than this (Roxy Music), it’s a great album to play at a party or for your music snob friends. You can put it on and have everyone guess, “who can it be now?” (Men at Work)The kids in America (Kim Wilde)should dig it.