College Times

Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Music

Media Credit: Andrew Quist

The Mother Hips
Pacific Dust
(Independent)
Grade: C-

Perhaps giving some insight into the story behind their name - at least the "mother" part - The Mother Hips are back with their seventh studio album, Pacific Dust. They might as well be called "The Mother May I's?" For a long-standing independent rock band, the Hips lack confidence this time around.

With subtly-building distorted guitar and a track listing that seems to get more psychedelic as the numbers get higher, the band seems to ask the listener's permission to rock like a child would ask their mother for a cookie. They should actually steal it unmercifully. Any major rock star could tell them that. And judging by the disc, having another musician tell them what to do would have affected Pacific Dust greatly.

The classic rock influences are obvious, with spooky Abbey Road-inspired three-part harmonies and Tom Petty Americana sprinkled throughout. But it sounds like the Hips are mocking the sound instead of making it their own.

Young, fresh and unique it is not, but if you're looking to listen to on a road trip with your dad - something familiar, inoffensive, catchy and harmless - Pacific Dust might be just the disc for you.

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