Country and rock ‘n’ roll-inspired, organ-driven roots rock with fire and respect.
Well, this is a very interesting album – americana imagined through the influence of Booker T, Jimmy Smith, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley with a nod to classic country, dramatically led by J. Isaiah Evans’ lyrics and vocals (he also plays electric guitar) but musically driven by the organ leads of Matthew Vazquez and rhythmically by the punchy drumwork of Spud Crowley. And that’s it, no added instrumentation, recorded analogue live in the studio with bygone instruments in a two-day blitz, this is an album that kicks off with a very boisterous 50s style rocker and then virtually never lets up.
Evans was born and raised in Dallas, in a musical household that introduced him to an amalgam of sounds (and subsequent influences – Texas blues, swamp rock, country, gospel, southern soul, and even funk). For more than a decade, he has been leader of 40 Acre Mule, a larger band which predominantly brings blues music into a 21st-century iteration by mixing it with some soul, rock ’n’ roll, and touches of americana. Taking the opportunity due to an hiatus with that band, Evans picked up Vazquez and Crowley to re-interpret the same music with a more early rock’n’roll, slightly jazzy, exceedingly barroom and even hillbilly sound. Using Vazquez’s old Hammond B3 as the main instrument, and Crowley’s 1960s drum kit as the propeller, Evans describes the sound as garageicana, designed to be performed in juke joints, Texas roadhouses, and garages!
The songs are nearly all Evans originals (there is a 70s-style interpretation of Mel McDaniels’ country standard ‘Stand Up‘) and lyrically the songs cover past and future relationships, parental concerns, friendly advice, music aspiration and a sweep through iconic cities in the States which are namechecked throughout the album. The line-up of instruments might appeal to Jimmy Smith jazz fans, but the sound is a slimmed-down version of 40 Acre Mule (no bass, no horns) or Booker T and the MGs. Evans generally picks various fascinating guitar riffs to underpin Vazquez’s scorching organ fills and solos.
‘Let’s Rock‘, the opener, is a clear exhortation to get up on the dance floor and clearly resembles an old 50s Chuck Berry riff, and is followed by a marginally slower 70s vibe ‘Up to No Good‘ where Evans’ early bad behaviour was of concern to his family, but he didn’t care cos he was going to be a success – “They talk about me like they got the right / But one of these days my name will be in lights / One night only for a sold-out show / So, buckle up baby and away we go”.
The title track assumes you’re still on the dance floor with its rather more rootsy sound and comes over for a plea for americana recognition: “They gonna love this on Americana Radio / A little country, a little rock-n-roll”.
The middle part of the album slows down somewhat with a mid-paced ‘Pullman Porter Blues’ (about a failed singer who is advised by a Pullman Porter – used in sleeping cars to serve passengers after the Civil War until the 60s – to settle down with a family). This leads into two rather interesting ballads: ‘A Thing for You‘ is a soulful track and may be the album’s standout, about a schoolboy crush, while ‘Hat in Hand’ traces the mood of a commitment-phobe who seeks forgiveness after a conversation with Jesus. Evans lays down some cool guitar riffs as Vazquez’s organ swells and swirls.
The pace picks up with a shortish but fiery instrumental, ‘The Devil Makes Three‘, and things return to 70s style with a r’n’b twist on the aforementioned ‘Stand Up‘ (a bit like early Motown). ”Ruby Anne’ has Evans’s only real guitar solo, and the album ends with another piece of similar advice, “you better settle down. You know you’re trouble bound” to a womanising chancer on ‘Trouble Bound‘.
It’s a very contemporary album, and pays respectful homage to the band’s forbears and influences. If you are into a B3 as lead instrument for an entire album, albeit a short one at just around 30 minutes, this album will appeal, as will the modern interpretations of early rock and roll and soul music, but others will want more depth. That said, there are some good melodies, the playing is excellent and there are some fun, and some fine lyrics, a favourite verse being in the closer “Down in New Orleans, they’re sendin’ out a warnin’ / That a hurricane’s a-blowin’ in / I got a pocket full of money and I’m here to tell ya honey / To forget about them other men / I been lookin’ for a brunette sweeter than a bign-yet /Spicy like an etouffee / And when the lights go down you gonna jump and shout / Laissez les bon temps rouler”. Indeed, let the good times roll!
