BoDeans
BoDeans
American Made
“I’ve always thought of the BoDeans as a truly American band,” says Kurt Neumann, the founder, primary writer and frontman of the veteran Milwaukee-based group. “We were blue-collar kids straight out of the heartland-how could we be anything else? ‘Roots rock’ was a label I fought when I was younger, but I came to realize that if by ‘roots’ you meant blues, rock, country and soul all slammed together into one sound, then I’d say yes-that is the sound of American-made music.”
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BoDeans w/ The Preservation
Sat. 06/01 | 8:00PM @ The Belmont (map)
Tickets on sale Friday April 19th at 10 am.21+Doors: 8 pmShow: 9 pm
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TheOwlMag on BoDeans
4 months agoArtist: BoDeans Album: Still Label: He and He Records Rating: Buy it >>
Blues-and-roots rock is still the genre of choice for the BoDeans on their eighth release, Still. Although the word, taken out of context, can have several meanings, the BoDeans are “still” doing what they do best. The first few tracks of the disc can become slightly boring with repetitive lyrics (“Hey, ho, pretty ghost” from “Pretty Ghost”) and a droning, “ringing” rhythm guitar, but the BoDeans eventually find their groove. The aforementioned “Ghost” involves an ethereal, echoing nature with bongos that almost crosses into psychedelic rock territory. The BoDeans even give nods to genres such as Zydeco and alt-country (if Son Volt and Drive-By Truckers are considered alt-country).
The album was produced by Grammy-winning T-Bone Burnett, and the vocal harmonies take the listener to Thursday nights in 1995 (the Friends theme song) on “Round Here Somewhere,” where generic hooks and energetic guitar chords take the place of reverberating guitar-built atmospheres. It doesn’t surprise the listener to realize that the BoDeans actually did do the theme song for Party of Five (“Closer to Free”).
Things turn around once “Lucille” comes around the corner. Blues and rockabilly influences shoot through the piece as the minor chord progressions create a spooky tone. Kurt Neumann’s and Sammy Llanas’ vocal harmonies have the perfect amount of grit and slop. One might miss one word while the other holds out a note longer than the other. The result is more natural, less rigid and strict, and completely in sync.
- Review submitted by Sarah Moore.
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