There are so many artists and so many bands to tell you about in the world of American independent music, that sometimes I can’t get it right in my stories. When it happens for such a talented band, I’m really sorry and after a few months I have to make amends. The album in question was released in October 2021, but it must be discovered by force, especially since the band in question is experiencing a golden moment and will be on tour with Blackberry Smoke and Whiskey Myers. Quality certification well in evidence then. The Read Southall Band is one of the new bands that are holding high the flag of red dirt in Oklahoma and being the city where everything was born (Stillwater), have in DNA this sound. Sounds that have modernized and updated, making it fresh and current. The band, apart from the leader, singer and guitarist, to whom it owes its name, is composed by Ryan Wellman and John Tyler Perry on guitars, Reid Barber on drums, Jeremee Knipp on bass and Braxton Curliss on keyboards. An ensemble of great talents that are the second studio album, after the excellent Borrowed Time of 2017 (and a live in 2018) that had put them on the map of the bands to keep an eye on. For The Birds, composed of 12 songs, confirms all the good that had begun to see with their debut and indeed leads us to consider this young band as the future of the red dirt genre and American rock. In the list of now legendary bands, such as Turnpike Troubadours just returned after a sudden breakup, you can easily add the name of Read Southall Band (I point out that they will be on tour in our country as opener of the concerts of Blackberry Smoke, in February 2023 in Milan, ed). The album opens with the title track, a powerful instrumental track that gives us a taste of what the guitars will be throughout the album : scratchy, powerful and with an incendiary groove. The song that follows the instrumental intro, DLTGYD (an acronym that’s don’t let them get you down), is an exciting piece of rock, with a killer and fat riff. The voice cuts the air and the keyboard that acts as a carpet gives it an almost seventies rock appeal. Energy and melody, at the service of a very beautiful piece. The following Out of My Mind shows us what influences have marked the music of the band, the song travels on tracks that seem to lead from Oklahoma to Seattle, when grunge reigned unchallenged. A song that shows us how the leader’s voice is very suitable for these sounds, bad and powerful at very high levels. The rock ballad Rose Gold is melody at the service of a song where the rhythm plays a leading role and the lyrics talk about how love should just be together, lying down enjoying the presence of each other, without diamond rings or exotic trips. The arrangement of the song is perfect, balance between electricity and intensity, a clear evolution of a band born as an acoustic solo artist and become one of the references of new American rock, in balance between roots and street rock. Where We Belong, introduced by the wonderful voice of Southall and the drums, confirms all what I told you : melody, rhythm and intensity, a song that is a journey away from home, we can hear it in this almost rarefied sound that, however, intensifies slowly, until it flows into a scratchy guitar solo that accompanies the hoped-for return home. A song that makes me dream of being on one of those immense roads, through the desert, with only the wind arm in arm with the sun, to whip our face. That’s really awesome, creepy. The atmosphere is awakened by Stickin’ n Movin’, a song from the killer groove, the guitar that wraps the ears and drags them into a blues rock vintage flavor and the voice friends is really a discovery! This guy has talent to give hands-on, not to mention guitarists and their outstanding work. Another song to save in your playlists! The country classic, the one that still has influence in the sound of the group, peeps with Here We Are (There We Went), a sunny and fun song that will make a killing of hearts in Texas and Oklahoma. It shows the versatility of the Read Southall Band, at ease whether it’s holding fierce grunge electric guitars, or playing a honky tonk with a pedal-steel player. Chapeau! The guitars don’t let go and their work is exceptional also in Right or Wrong, a melody still on the shields but the electricity scratches, which cut the air, are a pleasure for ears accustomed to rock sounds. There are no trivial songs or long to fill and we realize it when the guitar groove of the last piece, Time to Kill, grabs us by the lapel and takes us around the room. The finish is breathtaking for energy with a mouth-watering solo. The production is truly exceptional and shows how American independent music now has an edge and does not need any major to churn out jewelry like this For The Birds. Rock lovers come to me and get comfortable, here is bread for your teeth, if you are lovers of country or blues or just quality music, you can sit anyway, for thanks wait for the end of this wonderful record. It will be needed.
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.ticinonotizie.it
(you can find original italian article at this link : https://www.ticinonotizie.it/read-southall-band-for-the-birds-2021-by-trex-roads/ )
