SEXTON BLAKE: Plays The Hits

Sexton Blake

Plays The Hits

© 2007 Expunged Records (751937305620)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

Melodic indie pop.

notes

Josh Hodges is Sexton Blake. He came out of nowhere two years ago with the brilliant self-titled debut “Sexton Blake.” That album was a critical success, garnering Sexton Blake numerous comparisons to Elliott Smith and Pinback, among others. The Music Liberation Project exclaimed: “This is, by far, my favorite album this season.” Copper Press called it “a fantastic debut from this young, inspired multi-instrumentalist,” imploring readers to “track it down any way you can.” Similarly, the Oregon Music Guide heralded it as “a DIY classic.”

Plays The Hits! takes Sexton Blake’s singular sound into new territories. Josh Hodges has carefully chosen thirteen songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s and skillfully made them uniquely “Sexton Blake.” Josh spent hundreds of hours listening to hundreds of songs, trying to come up with the perfect collection - songs that Josh thought Sexton Blake could breathe new life into. Some, like “Bette Davis Eyes”, “Evil Woman”, “Hungry Heart”, “Young Turks” and “Daniel”, are classics. With others, like “I Need Love”, “Girl You Know It’s True”, and “Rush Rush”, Sexton Blake takes songs from different genres and sounds and transforms them into great works of indie pop. Every single song is great.

As In Music We Trust magazine’s Alex Steininger put it: “This may be the greatest covers album of all time!” But Sexton Blake doesn’t need it to be the greatest covers album of all time. Josh would be happy if it simply served to introduce fans of Sexton Blake, and indie pop, to some great songs they might not be familiar with. Similarly, this album will likely serve to introduce fans of these great songs, to a critically acclaimed indie artist from Portland, Oregon. One thing is for sure, Plays The Hits! will become a must-have for every fan of intelligent covers and great indie pop.

reviews

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  • author: Smother Magazine

    Josh Hodges is Sexton Blake. You may or may not know this. But now you should consider it known. His music is lo-fi indie pop and on this covers album he shows that he can nod towards the ‘70’s, ‘80’s, and ‘90’s hits and rework them into his own songs. What does he cover you ask? Well how about “Bette Davis Eyes” (Donna Weiss), “Hungry Heart” (Bruce Springsteen), “Young Turks” (Rod Stewart), “Girl You Know It’s True” (Milli Vanilli, sort of), “Daniel” (Elton John), and plenty of other worthwhile tracks all done in typical Sexton Blake indie pop style.

  • author: Campus Circle Magazine

    One of the more distinct balancing acts released this year!

  • author: Hi Fi Heart Magazine

    I am a sucker for well done cover songs and [Sexton Blake] has made me happy with an entire album full of them.

  • author: The Oregonian

    The new Sexton Blake album . . . is kitschy at the same time that it's modern, ironic with a kind of sincerity coming through nonetheless.

  • author: Three Imaginary Girls Magazine

    Plays the Hits is 13 tracks of 70s/80s/90s hits--some that you adore from childhood, others might make you cringe--but when Josh Hodges (aka Sexton Blake) belts them out with his lo-fi, guitar strum, keyboard cute way, they take on a whole new meaning and, dare I say, depth.

  • author: Skyline Press

    If you love songs from the 80's and also like relaxed keyboard infused songs, then pick this up.

  • author: Willamette Week

    Plays the Hits! takes the keyboard, guitar and drum skills of the whispery-voiced Hodges to a different level . . . . it gives new depth to songs most of us have heard a million times.

  • author: Portland Tribune

    Sexton Blake plays the ‘80s music like you’ve never heard it before

  • author: Delusions of Adequacy

    Any solo, lo-fi covers album with truly killer Milli Vanilli and LL Cool J covers is more than worth a listen. LL Cool J’s slow jam “I Need Love” represents as a dreamy, tight acoustic pop song along the lines of Brendan Benson material, while Milli Vanilli’s “Girl You Know It’s True” gets a jaw-droppingly gorgeous revamp as a Sebadoh-style mournful lament.

  • author: LocalCut.Com

    This album] is really good. Not only is it really good, but it grows on you a lot. When I first met Josh Hodges two years ago, an ’80s covers album is the last thing I would have expected out of his band, Sexton Blake, but the thing is for real. FOR REAL!

  • author: Aiding & Abetting Magazine

    These warped renditions are something akin to spectacular.

  • author: Blogcritics Magazine

    Sexton . . . is a band with a talent for stripping iconic songs from decades gone by into their simplest form. This is . . . an amazingly intimate sounding album. Despite being pulled from a wide range of artists, each song is built of equal measures of acoustical grace and the ethereal voice of Hodges. That’s no small feat, by the way; to be able to flow from Milli Vanilli into Paula Abdul into Elton John, and so on takes grace and talent.

  • author: TrebleZine

    Sexton Blake does these 13 songs right, showing what a little bit of lo-fi fuzz-pop magic can do with the classics. Sexton Blake displays what a cover really should sound like; he brings out a side of the song that one might not have detected before, breathing new life into it and interpreting it in a way that only he can. Sexton Blake gets to the kernel of each of these songs and brings out the best of each of them.

  • Amazing
    author: Overwrought Nonsense Magazine

    Probably the most interesting and daring concept for an album in recent memory, it consists of Sexton covering the likes of Rod Stewart, LL Cool J, Paula Abdul, Erasure, Air Supply, and Milli Vanilli. Here that music is transmuted from moronic to moving, profane to profound. That's right, Sexton Blake makes Milli Vanilli profound. And not just Milli, the effect is universal throughout this disc. Should the planets align themselves properly, we can look forward to a lifetime of their art wafting from our collective speakers.

  • Unbelievable
    author: Exploding Now Magazine

    No other acoustic musician can hold a candle to the brilliance of Sexton Blake. His album plays the hits is loaded with 80s covers done all acoustic style and OMFG they are SO GOOD. Seriously straight up double style OMFG @ milli vanilli’s “girl you know it’s true” For realz though, this whole album is like Sufjan, Sam Beam, Sean Lennon, Elliott Smith and Sebadoh all rolled up into one FUCKING AWESOME TASTING CAKE THAT HAS A FEW CANDLES ON IT AND YOU ARE BLOWING THEM OUT AFTER YOU JUST GOT BACK FROM ROLLERSKATING AT YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY AND NOW FOR SOME REASON YOUR BIRTHDAY IS NOW TURNING INTO A MONTAGE

  • author: Pitchfork

    [Sexton Blake’s] delicate approach at the microphone works just right.

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