![]() ![]() The delivery is sincere without overplaying it the result is – 15 words into the song – you’re a believer. Howard’s vocal nails the song’s essence early on – like Neil Young in “Sugar Mountain”, hers is the voice of a young person with the self-realization of an old soul. Fogg is in Memphis mode: cool and measured steps up and down the fret board over top of Howard’s chunked-out rhythm. Johnson kicks it off with a steady heartbeat rhythm mate Cockrell joins in after a few seconds with a bassline that tucks into the groove so tightly it’s almost indistinguishable from the drums. If I had to choose a single cut to introduce someone to the Shakes’ music, it would be the album opener “Hold On”. There’s even some vintage Faces to be found: Fogg’s midrange-soaked tone on “Be Mine” recalls Ronnie Wood in his prime and the rave-up at the end is sheer A Nod Is As Good As A Wink -era powerhouse rollick. “Goin’ To The Party” combines gum-chewing doo-wop innocence with a wry wisdom. “Hang Loose” was meant to blast out of the speaker of a transistor radio cooking in the midday sun. “I Found You” and the title tracks are total leather-jacket-under-the-streetlight from-the-hearters. There’s wild-assed surf music from Mars (how many sticks – and drum heads – did Steve Johnson break on the death-defying rolls of “On Your Way”?). ![]() The vibe is all over the place – in the best of ways. The material on Boys And Girls is a cool hybrid mix of Phil Spectorish depth with a rawness that isn’t afraid to let an amp crackle or an off-mic yelp stay right where it is if it serves the soul of the song. Seldom does a band this young have this good of a grip on who they are and how they’re meant to sound. Hats off to the Alabama Shakes for handling the album production and mixing themselves with the help of Andrija Tokic (who also served as engineer) – and getting it right. While the core four make a lot of joyful noise themselves, it’s the added wallop of the hallelujah organ on “I Found You”, the Farfisa cheese on “Rise To The Sun”, and the stripped-to-the goodness piano on “You Ain’t Alone” that seals the deal. ![]() Since then, Tanner has joined the Shakes as a full-time key man, a move that makes good sense. And there were other times when Howard herself made use of the studio setting, adding a dash of keys to a track. The handwriting was on the wall, however: there were four guests on the album – Paul Horton, Micah Hulscher, Mitch Jones, and Ben Tanner – and all of them were keyboardists, contributing to six of the album’s eleven cuts. Without falling prey to the above-mentioned trap, it does make for some interesting comparisons.Īt the time of the Alabama Shakes’ sessions for Boys And Girls, they were a quartet: bassist Zac Cockrell and drummer Steve Johnson combining rock machine wallop with smooth and slinky Muscle Shoals-style rhythm textures guitarist Heath Fogg laying down a blend of Steve Cropper tastefulness and Buddy Guy apeshit bluesiness (‘tis true) and Brittany Howard testifying in a manner well beyond her years while playing some just-right rhythm guitar. It just so happens that we have new releases – the Shakes’ debut and a revisit to Janis’ classic Pearl – to put an ear to. On one hand, it’s an easy one to make on the other, it’s a lazy one – and not fair to either party. ![]() Crash and burn or fade away – maybe it would’ve happened regardless the title of “the next …” almost guaranteed it.Ĭonsider for a moment the Alabama Shakes – or, more specifically, the widespread comparison of the Shakes’ lead vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard to the late Janis Joplin. Historically, it’s been the kiss of death for too many:Įarly on, an artist or band gets slotted by the mainstream music press and, saddled with a pair of shoes they may have never intended to fill in the first place, cannot live up to the label laid upon them. Janis Joplin The Pearl Sessions (Legacy Recordings)Īlabama Shakes Boys & Girls ( ATO Records) ![]()
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