Like an hour on FM Radio.
Most of what you need to know about Andrew Gabbard when coming to this, his third solo release, is that he’s also in the duo The Gabbard Brothers which grew out of the demise of Buffalo Killers. And he’s also a regular member of the touring band for Black Keys. And then add in that he plays pretty much everything (except for the pedal steel – that’s Sven Kahns) on this release, and wrote all the songs except ‘Barstool Blues‘. Which means that the blend of music featured on ‘Ramble & Rave On!’ has a leaning towards the spinning slightly into confusion as touring, studio and other “entertainments” start to bite rock sounds of the early 1970s – there’s as much of Neil Young on ‘Again Again‘ as there is on the cover of ‘Barstool Blues‘. It’s a rich and varied mix – rock butting up against semi-acoustic balladry and more than a smattering of deeply fuzzy glam rock like a note ripped from the T. Rex songbook. And as befits an album with “Rave On” in its title there’s even a bit of rock and roll throwback on ‘Donna-Lou‘.
At times that musical variation can make the album feel like ‘The Turtles Present The ‘Battle of the Bands‘, with Gabbard taking on a series of personalities – ‘Good Boy’ sounds like a late Byrds country-ish lyric tied to a Paul Simon melody, whilst the lost and slightly self-pitying reflections of ‘Everywhere I Go I Don’t Belong‘ with its string effects feels like a blend of Andrew Gold with a half-riff borrowed from the BeeGees. ‘Mulberry Rock‘ couldn’t be more Marc Bolan if it tried. There’s no doubt about the shape of Andrew Gabbard’s record collection – and he does each style well and it’s likeable enough stuff. This admittedly sounds like damning with faint praise and that is somewhat unfair as ‘Ramble & Rave On’ is a solid album that would suit, most likely, those who also appreciate Kurt Vile.