More summer music!
I picked up this album in a quest to listen to as much Australian music as possible this summer, and I really was not disappointed. John Butler (and his trio) have a laid back lemonade sippin sun on your cheeks sound. There's a hint of reggae, but not in that annoying "put on a fake Jamaican accent" way. Just in the basic rhythms and beats. I mean, it makes sense. Can you see a guy with hair like this making music without reggae influences? Anyways, I'd kinda put off listening to it for a while because A) I'm lazy and B) I'm forgetful. That is until one song came up on my iPod, Good Excuse.
I put the official Good Excuse video up last week so here's a live performance on some Australian TV show.
That song is a great example of the feel of the whole album, especially the first 2/3. There's great use of harmonica, the guitars have hint of blues and funk, and the overall sound brings in some reggae. Here's another song, Daniella.
I'm a fan of songs with guitar solos that don't feel like they have to be completely over the top or detract from the main melody. Honestly, if it weren't for one particular song, it'd be a perfect summer album. The song Devil Running is a complete shift in tempo and style about 2/3 through. It's not so laid back. It's rock. And not even fun rock. It's serious. Boringly and annoyingly serious. It loses all the fun that the rest of the album has an is loud with electric guitars and distortion. There's a time and place for these things, but this wasn't it.
Anyways, I'm going to be writing one review every day this week, and trying to stick with fun summery music. Tomorrow will be Donavon Frankenreiter, G. Love later, and maybe some O.A.R. We'll see.
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