The Flamin' Groovies: Shake Some Action : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

By the mid-seventies, veteran San Francisco rockers the Flamin' Groovies had lost frontman Roy Loney, who piloted the group's ferocious, Stones-y LPs Flamingo (1970) and Teenage Head (1971). Seeking inspiration, leader-by-default Cyril Jordan trekked the band to the U.K. The result was the keen neo-Merseybeat metamorphosis of 1976's Shake Some Action, on which the Groovies wear their newfound influence on the sleeves of their matching suits, with Beatles titles both actual ("Misery") and evocative ("Yes It's True," "Please Please Girl") sitting alongside energetic covers of Fab Four faves Chuck Berry and Larry Williams. And while "You Tore Me Down" is a sparkling ballad that keeps every promise the Groovies ever made to Lennon and McCartney, the title song is a different, nastier animal with a riff so tough, propulsive and universal it's a wonder that it's not currently being used to hawk bluejeans or vacation cruises.