Retro rock and revivalist rhythms.
Minneapolis-based brother duo Jack Torrey and Page Burkum return with their signature harmonies and retro-toned guitars, delivering a pitch-perfect revivalist collection that hits the sweet spot between the Everly Brothers’ harmonies, Shadows twang, and a touch of surf rock.
Their last release, an EP of Bob Dylan covers, evoked the spirit of sixties artists who found greater commercial success with Dylan’s songs than he did himself. Here, the style of delivery carries as much weight as the message. Like other revivalists such as Charley Crockett, The Cactus Blossoms have so finely honed the retro stylings of their 20th-century influences that it ultimately becomes a matter of personal taste whether the performances evoke durable emotions beyond smart nostalgia. However, when it works, it’s unquestionably effective.
The opener, ‘Something’s Gotta Hold on Me,’ introduces a richer sound with chugging guitars and a persistent rhythm. Similarly, ‘Be What I Wanna’ has a pleasing, Gonzo looseness, blending folk rhythms and fried brains like vintage Grateful Dead, veering into long, strange trip territory. In line perhaps with the meditative and memorable album artwork by abstract expressionist, George Morrison.
The title track is a wonderfully sweet and melancholic tune centred around a lilting piano. It’s one of the album’s most sweeping moments, along with ‘Honey I’m Homeless,’ a fine stand-and-deliver piece of sanguine country soul. Throughout, the music vibrates with a strong sense of time and place, swinging its sixties stylings while incorporating more roots and rockabilly rhythms. ‘There She Goes’ is a self-conscious slice of perfect folk-pop, while ‘Is It Any Wonder’ channels a dreamy, acoustic, Roots-era Everly Brothers vibe—blissful and blue.
This album boasts a fuller sound than their previous work, helping to elevate it beyond mere revivalist nostalgia, building toward something richer and more deeply persuasive. Like the best of its influences, it resonates long after listening, with the tremolo of a guitar lingering in the mind.
