Bodeans – Homebrewed: Live From The Pabst

Fueled by the uncanny, sibling-tight vocal interplay and ambitious-to-eccentric songwriting of guitarists Sammy Llanas and Kurt Neumann, the BoDeans caught commercial and critical success in the late-’80s/early-’90s. Llanas’ keening, adenoidal gymnastics, the group’s most distinctive (and, occasionally, most annoying) feature, gradually retreated to a more Everly-esque counterpoint. Recorded live at Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater on New Year’s Eve 2001, Homebrewed finds the BoDeans’ founding trio (Llanas, Neumann and bassist Bob Griffin) adding welcome rock muscle from keyboardist Bukka Allen and all-world drummer Kenny Aronoff. The well-paced, two-disc set presents a dynamic eighteen-cut overview of the band’s career, avoiding material from their weakest albums. The hits are here and presented with gusto, while seven “new” tracks (which eventually showed up on 2004’s Resolution) more than hold their own in this solid affirmation of a quality rock band.