Whitey Houston is a two man rock group from Alberta, Canada. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2005. Their name is taken from Whitney Houston, a famous singer.
In a Canadian musical climate that seems to get a little more elaborate and overwrought with the emergence of each new Broken Social Scene side-splinter, it’s reassuring to see there are still bands like Whitey Houston around to keep things from getting too precious. The Edmonton bass’n’drums duo of Lyle “Whitey” Bell and Rob “Gravy” Hoffart have been smashing out their ’70s boogie-rock beating up ’80s metal brand of party music since 1999, and the energy of their stage show makes the translation onto their self-titled 12-song debut with nary a scratch. Opening with the swaggering bass line and strained, wailing vocals of “They Got Cameras In Their Pockets”, and following up with the chugging blue-collar revenge anthem “I Got Fucked By Liberty Mutual,” the disc’s stripped-bare production value almost lets you feel the sweat flying off their brows. With their boundless energy and seemingly dead-on sense of what’ll get asses shaking, Whitey Houston have produced an album that will resonate for anyone who’s been wondering lately when the French horn will start being uncool again.