Ruf (label)
22 June 2015 (released)
06 June 2015
Not too many bands could survive the passing of two great guitarists at the same time but following on Devon Allman and Mike Zito leaving the band they have regrouped and strode forwards.
Cyrille Neville is still there and with Yonrico Scott on drums and Charlie Wooton on bass the beating heart of the band is still intact. Now they have added Bart Walker (ex-Blues Caravan) and Tyrone Vaughan (son of Jimmie Vaughan and nephew of Stevie Ray) and while the sound is different it is still, at heart, the same band I raved about a couple of years back.
The album was recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals and Tom Hambridge has given the album that familiar fat and punchy sound that you associate with Fame.
All of the band members have written songs for the album and it doesn’t feel at any point as though the new guns have just been brought in to make up the numbers. The music, as ever, covers the whole gamut of heavy Blues, New Orleans strut and soulful melodies with the title track a real shock as it has Mento rhythms interspersed with some fine Blues – they are nothing if not full of variety.
Tracks like ‘Bayou Baby’ demonstrate the writing partnership that is growing between Cyrille Neville and Bart Walker but, for me, pride of place goes to ‘Reach My Goal’ with a great vocal performance from Cyrille and a wonderful Hammond and piano from Ivan Neville – the riff just keeps getting stronger and you will be bouncing around the room to this one.
‘Don’t Look Back’ itself is an eye opener, a real pointer to a new sound and with Bart Walker displaying his skills on banjo and stirring bass and drums it grows and grows into a massive piece. The heavy urban funk of ‘The Big Greasy’ is driven by a wonderful bassline and riff.
Cyrille’s time with The Meters and the experience of Scott and Wooton in New Orleans ensures that there is a funky strut to just about all of the album, ‘Penzi’ carrying a brilliant rhythmic backline and ‘Hit Me Once’ as good a Meters-style number as you could wish for.
There is hardly a weak track on the album and just about every one would go down a storm live – all together this is an album to revisit time and again, not overshadowed by its origins at all.
