Make Up: I Want Some

In many ways, the seven-inch single is the ideal medium through which to experience Washington, DC's Make Up. Not only does the vinyl format pay tribute to the classic soul sides and obscure Nuggets tracks that have so obviously influenced the group, but Make Up is often most effective when limited to just one or two primal explosions per listen. It's not the band's fault. Thanks to Ian Svenonius' straight-faced shriek and the non-stop rock 'n' soul-revue execution of the ever-tight band, Make Up is as much a force of nature as it is a musical outlet. Because the band only writes two kinds of songs—gospel grooves and frenetic, all-out chunks of funk—it has accumulated many worthwhile singles that pack an effective one-two punch. I Want Some collects a whopping 23 tracks from rare or out-of-print seven-inches released by a half-dozen or so different indie labels, and if the disc is a bit much to handle in one sitting, there's no doubting its potency. From "Pow! To The People" to "Free Arthur Lee," I Want Some is a blatant show-off maneuver designed to kick your ass with some of the most poker-faced faux soul ever etched in wax. While Make Up's basement boogaloo has attracted the same accusations of black-culture-mining that have besieged Jon Spencer, both Spencer and Svenonius clearly love the music they mimic. That's the difference between mockery and homage: Svenonius may seem ridiculous when he shouts, "Can I hear an amen!," but there's little doubt that, in his own special way, he's as sincere as they come.