Pokey LaFarge really impressed me when I first listened to him and his most recent release, Rock Bottom Rhapsody (2020), with his barebones dust-bowl country/western blues swing rock style. That sounds awfully specific, but his sound seems to be from a different time. I’m pretty excited to be listening to his 2015 release, Something In the Water, as I really do dig that sound of his quite a bit.
“Something In the Water” starts out with a really interesting sound western swing sort of sound, with a song structure sound out of the 1920s. LaFarge has excellent control of his voice. I feel like this song could have easily been played in a speakeasy back in the day, except this song features some great little country acoustic guitar parts that wouldn’t typically be heard in music from the roaring twenties. I really dig the sound, and a fresh modern feeling on music from a time long ago.
“Wanna Be Your Man” has more of that speakeasy feel. I love that horn action happening in this one. It’s got such a minimalist approach to the strong structure – and has a totally unique sound to it. Truly a really enjoyable track to listen to.
“Underground” has almost a NOLA feel to it, and almost shamanic in a certain guiding type of sense. This track is very different from the last two; it’s a bit more complex, though still takes a minimalist approach. Wow, this could’ve been in The Great Gatsby movie. I’m incredibly impressed at the moment. This sound is so unique that I am struggling to notice similarities between songs and artists I know of.
“When Did You Leave Heaven” could’ve easily been an Elvis Presley song. It’s quite remarkable how Pokey LaFarge combines musical sensibilities from the 1920s, the 1950s, the 1970s, and some form of modern music with all of that – that’s at least what it seems to be to my ear. This one is a really nice, slow and soft ballad of sorts. It also features some great use of background vocals that really remind me of some of Elvis’ work.
“Cairo, Illinois” is the most country blues rock sounding song of the album so far. That banjo is really awesome. The way the guitar is played is almost ethereal in nature, seemingly bringing in the music into the song from another dimension. This album really is terrific. That harmonica brings in that bluesy bittersweetness you can hear from bands like the Flying Burrito Brothers. Wow, there’s a lot of great feeling in this album.
Wow, “Actin’ a Fool” starts out hot with a great southwestern country swing feel to it, and this one really gets rockin’ and a rollin’ quite a bit. This album is really awesome. Wow, the electric guitar just came in to add some little flourishes and I’m really digging this one. That upright bass really keeps the song bopping along. There was an instrument I couldn’t quite figure out, and upon closer inspection it seems to be a guitjo, something I didn’t even know existed until this point.
“All Night Long” returns to that 20s style, but brings a great western swing to the whole ensemble. That horn (trumpet or maybe trombone?) sounds so awesome in the composition. Each instrument seems to be getting a little solo part in this tune. I’m so impressed by the entire album, I can’t stress that enough. I’m tapping along to this song right now, and the whole thing sounds like a party inside a song.
“Goodbye, Barcelona” has a bit more of a cowboy feel to the whole thing, but definitely has a bit of a flamenco spin to it. I really dig the feel in this song. Pokey LaFarge has a great uniqueness to his music, and that’s incredibly refreshing to my ears. The clapping really brings this song together very well. Oh goodness, that distortion from the guitar comes out of nowhere and makes the song so much more incredibly interesting than it already was. This album has absolutely flown by thus far, I can hardly believe I’m about 2/3 of the way through listening to it.
“Far Away” has a very nice, soft and mellow acoustic guitar intro to it. It’s not quite what I’d call a ballad of sorts, but it’s definitely a very personal sounding song. Wow, I love the use of background vocals to this one – it very much reminds of Elvis Presley again. I can’t say enough how much I really dig this album; it is so incredibly versatile in sound that I can’t pin down what era of music any given track sounds like it comes from.
“The Spark” starts out with a great bop rock feeling with the rhythm of the song. This song seems to be of a feel good song compared to some of the other tracks, carrying a form of optimism with it that the other songs don’t necessarily have when I first heard them.
“Bad Girl” is another Elvis-y sounding song; definitely a great classic western swing song. I’m so blown away by the contents of this album. The harmonization between the electric and acoustic guitars really brings a great combined flavor of different eras of music.
“Knockin’ the Dust Off the Rust Belt Tonight”, a notably very folky sounding song titled, really brings that twenties sound to the front of the mix again. That being said, it still brings in some more modern sensibilities with the acoustic guitar at times. The entire song really sounds like a roaring twenties party, or at least what I imagine such a party to be like, in a song. LaFarge’s voice really has a great rock and roll feeling to it. Absolutely awesome tune to end the album with.
I am blown away. I feel like this album was a time machine back to a 1920s speakeasy. This one was an absolute blast to listen to – incredibly fun sounding music made incredibly well with its fusing of generations of music. Definitely a great listen in my opinion, especially for those that enjoy country and blues rock.
-A