Assorted Creams - The Orange Humble Band

Label:	Half A Cow
Released:	1997
Highlights:	Down In Your Dreams Any Wonder How Spindizzy Cherrytime Apple Green Slice Cut Through Your Veins

Rating: 10/10


Okay, I know this is a big statement but this album is perhaps the greatest power pop album ever released in Australia. Featuring an all-star cast including Mitch Easter (Lets Active), Ken Stringfellow (Posies) and band leader Daryll Mather (Lime Spiders, Someloves), Assorted Creams is an album where the creative sum of all those involved actually did combine to create something truly wonderful.

One of the albums biggest strengths is its variety. As the album?s title suggests, Assorted Creams is an treasure cove of songs that range from pure power pop through glam, psychedelic, rock ?n? roll and even country. Down In Your Dreams is Byrdsian-jangle pop at its absolute finest. Spindizzy recalls the spirit of Chris Bell while Through Your Veins is dreamy, Beatlesque psychedelica. Other highlights include summer wistfulness of Cherrytime, the upbeat pop of Any Wonder How and Katie Said So and the beautifully simple Apple Green Slice Cut.

Assorted Creams is a modern masterpiece. The arrangements are strong and inventive and the quality is maintained through each of the album?s 15 songs. Listening to it gives me a sense of what it must have been like to hear classic albums like Revolver or Radio City for the first time without any preconceptions of their greatness. Anyone seriously interested in hearing good music rather than the latest musical trend should have this album in his or her collection.

BACK to reviews