Wells Fargo was a heavy rock group from Rhodesia in the mid-1970s, which an area in Africa now known as Zimbabwe. Though the group never released a full album during their prominence, an album comprised of the group’s releases was put together for an album in 2016 to showcase this group’s countercultural style from their era. Somebody that I follow on Twitter recently tweeted about a song from the group, and I’m pretty stoked to give it a listen. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Coming Home” starts out with some super groovy garage rock sounding guitar, followed quickly by some syncopated drums to get the tune moving along. Holy smokes, this track is sweet. The rhythm section has a really interesting feel, like some sort of heavily syncopated funk that seems to build and release tension in a super flavorful way. Holy smokes, the guitar in this track picks up a bunch of flavor that almost feels like some jazz-inflected garage rock in a certain sense. Wow, awesome track and I’m excited to hear more.
Holy smokes, “Watch Out!” starts out with some super sweet flavors that almost have a bit of a late-1960s British folk rock with a bit of a raw, garage rock sort of style. Holy smokes, the drums are super groovy, and seem create a bunch of dynamic feel in the soundscape. Holy smokes, the guitar in this track is super flavorful. The feel of the track almost reminds me of a kind of New Orleans style from the late 1960s with a garage rock feel. Holy smokes, the vocals have a ton of feeling in this track has the vocalist seems to push his vocal cords to the limit as he emphasizes certain lines. Great track.
Oh wow, “Love of My Life” has a really groovy wah-pedal’d guitar, with a rhythm section and melody that makes me think of a combination of Jimi Hendrix and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Holy smokes, the guitar just drips into the soundscape with some super groovy flavor. Wow, I’m really digging this track. Great tune.
Oh wow, “The Crowd” starts building up some tension with the guitar lines that feel as though they really want to resolve, but the band uses the built up tension to get the tune grooving in a super sweet way as the drums and vocals come in. Oh wow, the harmonized vocals and slower groove in the track come together really nicely, bringing a lot of momentum to the soundscape. Holy smokes, this little guitar solo in this track is super groovy. I’m really digging this track right now, and the album for that matter. Super sweet track.
Oh wow, “Bump Bump Babe” gets grooving with a style that feels vaguely psychedelic and super funk infused. Holy smokes, the bass guitar in the track has a really raw, nearly punk rock tone that I really dig. Oh wow, the pacing of the tune feels incredibly dynamic. Wow, awesome tune.
Oh wow, “Love is the In Thing” feels like a classic funk rock sounding track with the bass line and staccato’d chords from an electric guitar. Oh wow, the guitar adds some super flavorful accentuations to the vocals in this track. Oh wow, I really dig this track. Holy smokes, the guitar has a bit of a twang to it that adds a super groovy flavor to this already groovy tune. Great track.
Oh wow, “Open the Door” has an opening instrumental part with the guitar, bass, and drums that reminds me of The Eagles if they had a garage rock sound for some reason, possibly because of the melody they’re playing. Holy smokes, the track picks up a bit of a reggae sound suddenly that I’m really digging. Oh wow, the track changes up again with a super groovy, sort of psychedelic guitar solo that adds a whole new dimension to the soundscape. Wow, awesome tune.
Oh wow, “Shades of Wells Fargo” gets a light grooving with some bright, sort of garage pop-y flavors that pick up a bit of grit over time, becoming a sort of garage groove rock piece. Oh wow, this instrumental track is filled with some great flavors. Wow, great track.
Oh wow, “Bwanawe” starts out with the intro guitar part from The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood”. Oh wow, the track seems to be some sort of translation of “Norwegian Wood”, and I’m loving it. The band really gets a nice mixture of raga flavors with the garage rock sound, and I’m really digging the timbre and tone of the electric guitar. Holy smokes, the percussion in the track is super great as well. Wow, awesome version of this tune.
Oh wow, “Too Long Away” has a bit of an epic garage rock building feeling of sorts, with a sort of massive momentum that reminds me of The Animals’ version of “House of the Rising Sun”, though not as bluesy. The passion in the track is palpable in both the vocal performance and instrumental performance. Wow, great track.
Oh wow, “Carrying On” gets grooving in a sort of psychedelic garage rock way that feels like a mixture of psychedelic garage rock sounds circa 1966, but with a sound that might be African in origin. Admittedly, I don’t have much experience with much music from African, though the bit I have listened to seems to be represented in both this track and the album as a whole at times. Wow, great tune and a great way to end the album.
Holy smokes, this album was awesome, and was not very much what I had expected during my preliminary research, and I very much dig that. Garage rock is a favorite genre of mine, which was well-represented throughout the listening experience that is this album. There were also some psychedelic flavors laced throughout the album, which made the experience even more enjoyable. If you’re a fan of mid to late 1960s garage rock, you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A