I don’t quite recall how I came across this album. I think it was in a “suggestions for you” area on my Apple Music page, but the album artwork looked neat, and I really love Grateful Dead’s version of “New, New Minglewood Blues” from their self-titled album from 1967, so I figured I had to give this a listen for the album title alone.
“Rockin’ the Blues” starts out with some dreamy guitar that’s really enticing to me, and the piano complements the guitar extremely well. Wow, that drop into the main part of the song is pretty slick. Wow this song is tasty, especially when that harmonica comes in. The vocals keep getting more impressive as well. That guitar solo is awesome too. This song is so dynamic too, the feel keeps changing up, but does so incredibly well. I think there’s some slide guitar in this as well? This album is off to a very good start, in my opinion.
“Ain’t What It Use to Be” has sort of a funky feel to that bass, almost like it’s got some sort of envelope filter on it. Those chimes of the piano really make the tune shine with that bass in the background, especially as the horns come in. The drums feel almost a bit disco-ish to me, though I don’t have too much experience with disco as a genre, admittedly. Wow, the way the chorus builds up is absolutely awesome. And the outro guitar solo is super slick on top of that.
The album flows very well into the next song, “Hook Line & Sinker”. The song builds very well, and teases a resolution of sorts only to keep building on itself. Honestly it’s a pretty darn good jam to my ears. Definitely a great rock/rock and roll tune.
“Long Way from Texas” has a sort of rollicking bluesy feel to it – only 20 seconds in and I love it. That harmonica is absolutely awesome. I think I’ve been hearing some artifacts in the recording, whether they’re there on purpose or not, such as a buzzing of an amplifier turned to 11 as the tracks die down between one another, and little clicks and pops here and there, but it just makes the album have a really authentic rock and roll feel to me. That guitar solo in this song was awesome, just have to mention. The outro to the song really switches up the vibe of the song to something a bit gentler in nature, almost some countryside folk.
“Can’t You See” has an awesome sound to it. That bass is infectious. The drums give a great platform for the guitar to really solo and shine in the song. There’s a great authenticity to the song, as the singer is more so talking to the listener than singing to and/or at them. And the whole time, the band is having a pretty awesome jam session in the background. Dang, the singer starts singing and I start tapping along to the song – absolutely infectious. It feels like there’s a great deal of soul in the song. Wow, the way this song builds and resolves tension within the tune is really a spectacle. The gospel chorus makes the song almost have some sort of divine feeling to me. Add in the guitar solo near the outro and I’m sold. This song is a heck of a journey, and absolutely amazing in my opinion.
“Patriot Game” sounds like something of a mix you’d hear at a ball game with something you’d hear at a church. A lonely organ plays the instrumentation with the singer gently singing over it. Eventually, the normal piano comes in to complement the organ’s playing quite well. Wow, this song has some countryside soul to it, and deep feeling to be sure. The violin or fiddle really adds quite a touching element to it, in my opinion. Those artifacts I mentioned before makes it almost feel like I’m listening to the album on vinyl (unfortunately, I’m not at the moment), and the artifacts are definitely more prevalent when the instrumentation plays softer. It almost feels like some sort of Christian soft rock song, but I don’t really think the song is particularly focused on religion.
“Don’t Fool Yourself” starts out with some mischievous organ playing, with cymbals rolling in the background like some sort of orchestral piece. There’s more talking on this track instead of singing, and it really adds a great juxtaposition to the singing. Wow, the instruments just dropped into the main portion of the song. That bass is freakin’ awesome, and the piano – wow. I’m super stoked that I listened to this tonight, and am very impressed by how dynamic the album has been to my ears. I love this jam that just happened in the song, the bopping bass, swirling organ, pop-y rock and roll drums, the slick guitar, and that rolling piano all combined to form something seemingly greater than the sum of its parts, though each part was awesome by itself.
“Whiz Kids” starts out with some great sort of swishy staccato’d playing on the guitar, and the other instruments join in for a sort of end of the album jam-piece. The bass has really impressed me throughout the album, as well as the production of the album as a whole. Each instrument seems to be mixed into each song with such care, such that no instrument outshines the other, and each instrument seems almost equally audible. That piano is really awesome to me. There’s an absolutely sick harmonica solo, followed by a little piano solo. Each instrument is getting its own licks in before the song, and the album itself, is coming to an end at this point. It ends on a great high point as well; I really want to listen to more.
I can’t overstate how impressed I am at the moment. This album was a blast to listen to, and there seemed to be a great amount of care that went into making it. Definitely check this one out if you’re into any sort of roots rock or country rock or simply rock and roll.
-A