self-released
Pass the gravy!
Ah, comfort. Sometimes comfort comes as basic as a half-decent, warm
diner on a cold wet highway. Comfort can be as distinct and humble as a
favorite jacket, a familiar bend in a hometown road — maybe leading
nowhere special but still easy, known. The sound of a hollowbody guitar
played well, slipping and striding over an easily accessible blanket of
drum and organ is a comfortable sound, jazzy enough to be rich, bluesy
enough to have soul, rocking enough to have that kick — and then the
vocals of a large man singing of timeless things like love (and lust)
and jealousy and hurt. Roast meats and biscuits are comfort foods, and
here is comfort music, courtesy of Los Blancos, opening their disc with
the blues of Mighty Mean Mama like an oven door opening to show you
the goods baking inside.
A quintet from Syracuse, New York, Los Blancos – listed without their
instrumentation as Colin Aberdeen, Steven T. Winston, Garnet Grim, Mark
Nanni and Jose Alvarez – are not out to reinvent the music they play.
They don’t bother trying to obscure their roots; you can hear the
strains of their forefathers in every bar. Sure, they take a more
ambitious tack on a fusion instrumental like Kaffe, but they won’t be
straying far from the warm hearth of what they know best, a rich stew
of well-executed boogie-worthy tracks and ditties, including covers of
John Cale’s Crazy Mama and Gershwin’s Summertime. The
hollowbody
slithers and strikes piquant rhythms, the organ pours forth like gravy,
and the drums never falter, holding the players tight to the well-worn
floor like the sturdy legs of the old kitchen chair.
This is the kind of music I’d like to encounter in full sultry swing if
I wandered into a rural roadside bar in search of hot tunes on a cold
night. Right away it feels like music that goes perfectly and with late
nights and smoky rooms with lots of wood …and perhaps a neon sign
giving everyone a glowing red silhouette. Strong vocals shepherd the
songs through their paces, hitting just enough passion to be
convincing, getting throaty when the moment calls for it, and at times
reminiscent of the younger days of ZZ Top and Van Morrison.
And, while I’d happily pay the roadhouse cover for this comfortable
stuff, I know it’s not breaking new ground, and they won’t be playing
Radio City anytime soon (without some incredible stroke of marketing
fortune, at least) — but that’s almost entirely beside the point. These
guys aren’t trying at all to forge a new path across the musical
universe. The goodtime
humor here and there on the disc feels makes me believe these are good
guys who have fun at what they do, which is probably feeding happy
audiences in warm, comfortable bars, perhaps hoping you might take a
little home of it with them via this disc. You know, to have some of
that good time comfort for yourself. You could do worse on your musical
spice rack.
News
Archive- Listen: Alex Koford Releases First Self-Produced, Recorded and Mixed Single, “When I Rise”
- Brooklyn Bowl to Host Benefit for Bad Brains’ HR, with Members of Bad Brains, Fishbone, Living Colour and More
- Warren Haynes, Bill Kreutzmann, Devon Allman and More Share Tributes to Dickey Betts
- Visual Splendor: Phish Commence Sphere Residency with Classics
- Listen: Brian Eno Updates David Bowie’s “Get Real” with Nature Sounds
- Listen: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Announce Fourth Full-Length Album ‘South of Here’ with “Heartless” Preview
- The String Cheese Incident Unveil The Mexico Incident with Daniel Donato, moe., Chromeo and More
- Lettuce Expand 2024 Tour Schedule: John Scofield, Ziggy Marley, BISCOLAND and More
Most Popular
- That’s Hot: Paris Hilton Plays Cornhole While Vampire Weekend Deliver Phish, Grateful Dead Medley Jam at Coachella
- Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd & The Monsters Revive Blue Monsters Tour for Summer 2024
- Billy Strings Starts Spring Tour with Bluegrass Standards in Tampa, Fla.
- Grateful Dead Release 16 Previously Unheard Outtakes, Alternate Versions and Mixes of “Scarlet Begonias,” “Ship Of Fools,” “China Doll” and More
- Bob Marley’s Sons Detail The Legacy Tour, First Joint Run in Two-Decades
- Listen: Sean Ono Lennon and James McCartney Unveil Collaborative Single “Primrose Hill”
- Watch: Ronnie Wood and Chuck Leavell Join The Black Crowes, Perform Faces “Stay With Me” for First Time Since 1990
- Ventura Offers Array of Alternatives to Skull & Roses This Week
No Comments comments associated with this post