Flophouse

  • Flophouse
  • Flophouse (Heyday) 1990 

Produced by Peter Case, this mild-mannered San Francisco quartet’s uneventful debut proffers nicely played folk-rock (genus Californius), alternately sung by bassist Kim Osterwalder and guitarist J.C. Hopkins. Cello, violin, piano, mandolin, harmonica and trombone help color the tunes, but Hopkins’ material (and voice; hers is much better) lacks character, and the band doesn’t do anything special that would make up for it.

[Ira Robbins]