Hey hey, it’s the Yayhoos. On their song “Everything/Anything”, introductions pass from player to player. Some fling smackdowns, others shake tambourines, they raise the chorus to a tribal chant, and, early into this ruckus, a mission statement is unveiled: “We’re The Yayhoos and we make noise.”
We know. Their second album is big on basics (“Getting drunk, getting naked, getting laid and getting out” leaves no shades of gray, does it?) and short on individual sincerity. What separates this band of houserocking veterans (Georgia Satellites to Steve Earle’s Dukes) from fratboy dreck like the Barenaked Ladies is that sometimes it takes smarts to play dumb. These Yayhoos have brains to back up the fat and sleazy guitar riffs and one-note solos that penetrate these songs, and a super-spirited group effort that sounds inspired from the songwriting to the dynamic interplay. Power-pop nuggets (“All Dressed Up”) and twelve-string folk-pop (“Between You And Me”) round out the raunch; this isn’t just garage rock, it’s tailored to every room in the house.
All four Yayhoos — Dan Baird, Eric Ambel, Keith Christopher, and Terry Anderson — shine at the microphone, but none carry as much personality as Baird. He howls and hiccups his way through his songs, raising the temperature to hot each time. What levels this album to lukewarm are “Love Train” (O’Jays) and “Roam” (B-52’s), two wedding-worthy covers that should have been shelved for B-sides. Perhaps it’s a testimony to the eleven originals, but the Yayhoos sound worst when trying to host someone else’s party.