Okay, so this one is begging for bad puns, but that’s as close as I can come to saying anything negative about this album. Garrett Dutton’s (G. Love) new record is the perfect refreshment in a summer that was (both musically and physically) starting to drag a bit for me. Maybe it’s just because there was so much good stuff coming from the woodwork earlier this summer that it seems like things have slowed down, but whatever the case, this one got me excited about the ’scene’ again. If you want to check it there’s a stream available at his MySpace Page.
I’ve been a G. Love devotee since early 2000, putting songs such as “Rodeo Clowns” and “Cold Beverage” onto at least one mix CD every summer. However, whereas his band ’Special Sauce’, which also appears on this album, has a tendency to emphasize the slow down of G. Love’s funky lyrics and turn the sound into more of a Louisiana drawl (which, for the record, I adore), the collaborations on this album are nothing but upbeat and groove-inspiring.
Working with everyone from Ben Harper and Marc Broussard (together on “Let The Music Play”) to Jack Johnson, Kyle from Slightly Stoopid, Donavon Frankenreiter, and Blackalicious (swoon!), the album is a class act all the way. The intro to track 4 “Can’t Go Back To Jersey” made me think of Medeski, Martin & Wood, and then turned into what I can only describe as a piano groove-fest.
I could not be more excited about the tour for this album, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s playing St. Pete two nights in a row. If you’re looking for a funky, bluesy, bass-driven and truly inspired album to get you through the last weeks of summer and to keep you going once the weather starts to turn a little chilly, this is it. I can promise you right now that this is going to be one of my classics, a record that never leaves the heavy rotation in my car and home. Pick it up as soon as you can and make with the dancing, already!
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August 2nd, 2006 at 9:47 pm
Summer’s dragging for you? That doesn’t say much for me as a travel partner! Anyway, love the review and wish you would have brought that for the Sheldon-destroyer Stratus’s CD player!
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
[…] 3. Lemonade - G. Love Again, this is an album that I’ve already written about, and one that I’ve become quite attached to over the past few months. A few weeks back a friend and I realized that we could play it overhead at work and have been dancing our way through shifts ever since. It doesn’t hurt that every time we play it, at least two or three customers come up and ask if they can buy it. […]
January 30th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
This album, in my opinion, was quite the creeper. When i first listened to it, i thought that i had finally found a G. Love album that didnt hit all the right spots, and i was quite upset. Over time, his style grew on me more an more. It seems that each one of his albums have the same affect on me. Uniqueness really does take time to recognize and respect, and the distance he stretches, while still sticking to his grungy blues roots, is quite impressive.