Houston, I have a problem. I don’t go a bundle on the vocals supplied by Roger C. Reale on Friendlytown. No harm to the guy, this is purely a matter of personal taste. His singing is tuneful enough and his phrasing is okay, but he generally sounds like he’s singing from the back of his throat in a way that I find distracting.
This is a bit of a pain when you’re listening to a Steve Cropper album, which is really all about the songs and the grooves, rather than some guitar fireworks festival. Though it should be said that Cropper and co-producer/bassist Jon Tiven have roped in Billy F Gibbons as a “band member”, contributing both guitar parts and a bunch of songwriting credits to Friendlytown – hence the “Midnight Hour” moniker.
Title track 'Friendlytown' gets the show on the road, and chugs along very nicely, with a simple, stinging riff, augmented by organ and rambling bass, and counterpointed by a flickering guitar line. It’s a good relaxed tune too. But like I say, I'm not sold on Reale’s vocal delivery. And on the following ‘Too Much Stress’ that problem is compounded by allowing Brian May to get behind the mic for a duet. It’s a lightweight tune with country-rock’n’roll foundations, and May’s thin voice doesn’t give it any more heft. He’s more at home injecting some fizz via a guitar exchange, and there’s a key change to add an extra twist, but it remains short on personality. Queen’s ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ wasn’t a million miles away from this in style, but was turned into something memorable by Freddie Mercury camping it up big time.
Still, things buck up a bit on the following ‘Hurry Up Sundown’, a likeable song that packs a fair amount into three minutes. A shave-and-a-haircut rhythm is accompanied by handclaps, trilling piano, and burbling horns, as the undercurrent for neat tumbling riff that’s the launchpad for a tasty pinging guitar break. The following ‘Let’s Get Started’ is a cantering excursion in a Northern Soul direction, with attractive twiddling guitars over the four-on-the-floor beat, and if there’s not much to it melodically speaking it does have a suitable positive vibe.
‘Liars, Crooks & Clowns’ is a lurching chug reminiscent of Springsteen’s ‘Seeds’ in tone, though without the gutsiness. It does have a more interesting lyric than some of the stuff here though, and it has to be said that Reale’s vocal sounds better too, by virtue of being in a slightly higher register. The same is true of ‘In God We Trust’, and there’s also a buzz’n’twang combination to the guitars that works well, along with the popping guitar licks on the fade-out. But if the simple melody is decent enough, the lyrics veer towards the dull.
The upbeat ‘Reality Check’ is better, basically reworking the riff from ‘Take Me To The River’ with a sense of urgency rather than tension, while Reale’s emphatic vocal does justice to the sentiment that “Everybody’s breathing down my neck, I can’t even cash my reality check”.
Along the way there’s also the slow blues of ‘I’ll Take Tomorrow’, on which a sparse arrangement includes wafts of organ and some low end warping and wefting lead guitar work from Gibbons. There’s also a Seventies Stonesy kinda feel to ‘Lay It On Down’, with buzzing rhythm guitar and spiky lead mingling over clipping drums and parping horns, the satisfying tune also enlivened by a warped twanger of a guitar break.
‘Rain On My Parade’ is an appealing smoother soul offering, with a dreamy feel and languid guitar chords, boosted by some chocolatey bass from Tiven and staccato horn punctuation, and some perky lead guitar work. And ‘There’s Always A Catch’ is something of a back to basics affair that might have been better if they’d really committed to the quasi-Latin vibe of the intro, though it does get better in the middle when backing vocals and horns stiffen it and give it more oomph.
Thirteen tracks is too many for my liking, but Friendlytown is an entertaining enough album in spite of its various flaws – Cropper still has the grooves, and Billy Gibbons brings an additional spark on the lead guitar front. File under friendly fun.
Friendlytown is out now on Provogue Records, and can be ordered here.
This is a bit of a pain when you’re listening to a Steve Cropper album, which is really all about the songs and the grooves, rather than some guitar fireworks festival. Though it should be said that Cropper and co-producer/bassist Jon Tiven have roped in Billy F Gibbons as a “band member”, contributing both guitar parts and a bunch of songwriting credits to Friendlytown – hence the “Midnight Hour” moniker.
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| Steve Cropper and common-or-garden guitar Pic by Stacie Huckeba |
Still, things buck up a bit on the following ‘Hurry Up Sundown’, a likeable song that packs a fair amount into three minutes. A shave-and-a-haircut rhythm is accompanied by handclaps, trilling piano, and burbling horns, as the undercurrent for neat tumbling riff that’s the launchpad for a tasty pinging guitar break. The following ‘Let’s Get Started’ is a cantering excursion in a Northern Soul direction, with attractive twiddling guitars over the four-on-the-floor beat, and if there’s not much to it melodically speaking it does have a suitable positive vibe.
‘Liars, Crooks & Clowns’ is a lurching chug reminiscent of Springsteen’s ‘Seeds’ in tone, though without the gutsiness. It does have a more interesting lyric than some of the stuff here though, and it has to be said that Reale’s vocal sounds better too, by virtue of being in a slightly higher register. The same is true of ‘In God We Trust’, and there’s also a buzz’n’twang combination to the guitars that works well, along with the popping guitar licks on the fade-out. But if the simple melody is decent enough, the lyrics veer towards the dull.
The upbeat ‘Reality Check’ is better, basically reworking the riff from ‘Take Me To The River’ with a sense of urgency rather than tension, while Reale’s emphatic vocal does justice to the sentiment that “Everybody’s breathing down my neck, I can’t even cash my reality check”.
Along the way there’s also the slow blues of ‘I’ll Take Tomorrow’, on which a sparse arrangement includes wafts of organ and some low end warping and wefting lead guitar work from Gibbons. There’s also a Seventies Stonesy kinda feel to ‘Lay It On Down’, with buzzing rhythm guitar and spiky lead mingling over clipping drums and parping horns, the satisfying tune also enlivened by a warped twanger of a guitar break.
‘Rain On My Parade’ is an appealing smoother soul offering, with a dreamy feel and languid guitar chords, boosted by some chocolatey bass from Tiven and staccato horn punctuation, and some perky lead guitar work. And ‘There’s Always A Catch’ is something of a back to basics affair that might have been better if they’d really committed to the quasi-Latin vibe of the intro, though it does get better in the middle when backing vocals and horns stiffen it and give it more oomph.
Thirteen tracks is too many for my liking, but Friendlytown is an entertaining enough album in spite of its various flaws – Cropper still has the grooves, and Billy Gibbons brings an additional spark on the lead guitar front. File under friendly fun.
Friendlytown is out now on Provogue Records, and can be ordered here.
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