Several thousand light years after 1994's '
Barefoot Servants' came '
Barefoot Servants 2'. Proving that not only had they no sense of urgency, they had no imagination when it came to album titles.
Clearly, they channelled all their energy and creativity into this studio recording.
Actually, '
BS2' was released in 2005, but has now been re-released with 2 extra tracks and a few remixes. All well received across the worldwide web, and that's what piqued my interest.
In the intervening years, the band - Jon Butcher (yes, he of Axis fame), Ben Schultz,
the Leland Sklar and Neal Wilkinson - had toured and recorded with many other stellar acts and artists as well as being integrally involved with TV and movie projects.
Fortuitously, fate took a hand and in 2005 the four musicians found that their stars had aligned once more. They recorded 30 new songs and picked 13. Then recently added another 2.
If loose limbed melodic rock is your bag, then this is it. At times swampy, bluesy, (
Crazy). At others paying homage to the fabulous pop of the Fab Four (
When The Day Comes) or to the seminal guitar fuelled rock of Jim Hendrix (
Crack The Sky).
Then at other times it's so intimate that you can imagine them as the house band in some backstreet club, dimly lit, full of warmth and atmosphere, a haven where only the patrons are in on the secret.
The music is rooted in classic acoustic rock and blues, earthy and organic. Polished when the occasion demands, raw when it doesn't. Often cranking the guitars into amped up action.
Hearing Butcher's voice on opener '
Pharaoh's House' is like meeting an old friend after many years - you suddenly realise how much you've missed it.
'Bells Of St Marys', '
Brown Penny' and
'I Don't Care At All' stretch the sweet acoustics across a web of beautifully delicate melodies, strong as silk, with an harmonica and a twelve string jangle not so much gilding the lily as giving it a colourful spray job.
'Monsters In Bethlehem' will recall Third Matinee while the springy, shuffling '
Take Your Breath Away' is deceptively simple pop music, delivered sunnyside up.
Lyrically, these Butcher/Schultz songs appreciate that there exists an audience who like to be challenged as well as entertained. The narratives fold into a compelling series of reflective vignettes, ranging from your basic road song to your basic love song and all points in between, showing a rare artistry and intelligence at work.
It's an album you can go back to time and time again. Each listen will reveal something new and exciting to enthuse over.
Buy it now.
Written by
Brian Sunday, April 25, 2010
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