The Beggars "A Heap O' Livin'"

Music Review: A Heap O' Livin' by The Beggars
Date: Thursday, April 10, 2003 @ 19:35:00 EDT
Topic: Music Reviews

Thanks to the impeccable taste of Kilkenny's Nick Woods, I had the good fortune to witness a last-minute performance by Royal Oak garage rockers The Beggars at the Frank J Calcaterra American Legion Post 386 in Eastpointe. From an ad-hoc set-up on the dance floor, The Beggars up-staged Kilkenny at their own CD release party (man, the nerve!). The show was great, but their debut ep, entitled "A Heap 'O Livin", is even better - the best thing I've heard since Kilkenny's ep. Click "Read More" for a quick, gushing review, applicable links and show dates.

On their debut ep A Heap O Livin', The Beggars have distilled the essence of the garage movement in just four tracks of stripped-down, retro-fied, invigorated rock. The make the best use of vintage instruments like a Farfisa organ and Rickenbacker twelve-string electric to create a sound that reminds me of heyday bands like The Archies, The Kinks or Paul Revere & The Raiders. But The Beggars go a step further and infuse their music with the energy of "New Wave" punkers like The Cure & The Clash, especially on track four, "Right On Time". Most importantly, they've captured the verve that's been missing from "modern rock" and spawned the backlash known as "garage" in the first place.
All four gems on this ep are brash, uncut and vibrating with enough energy to make even most cynical music critic (a'hem) smile just for the pure joy of listening. "A Heap O' Livin'" by The Beggars is a must-have, feel-good, shake your ass in your Underoos™ CD for troubled times. Buy this ep and just let it repeat.

- Mitch

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