The Redeemers
She Rocks and Rolls All Night & Day
One Horse
This Washington, DC area four-piece is stuck in a time warp somewhere around 1967, but I ain’t saying that’s a bad thing. This is good, solid, rootsy rock with tons of pop influences being shown; at various points you can hear echoes of Buddy Holly, Johnny Rivers, and The Byrds. Plus a mishmash of rockabilly and garage sounds (the guitarist plays many a straightforward warm neck-pickup solo, sounding like everyone from Cliff Gallup to Mark Knopfler), and lyrical references to some great ’60s songs (including Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” and The Seeds’ “Pushin’ Too Hard”) as well.
In addition to the basic tracks of guitar-bass-drums-keys (the latter being of course in the Hammond B-3 and/or Farfisa family, of course), some killer horns appear on numerous tracks, playing everything from Stax rave-ups to a jazzy mellow number reminiscent of the sax solo on (of all things) Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat.” These guys leave no (rolling) stone unturned, even copping some guitar licks from the breakdown of Lynnrd Skynnrd’s “Free Bird” in the instrumental meltdown at the end of their own song, “Soul.” The vocals are a little weak on the couple cuts where they let the bassist sing (in his defense, one is a live cut, the only one here), but in general, the playing and singing here is top notch, and these guys are obviously well-versed in early rock and roll.
Fun, unpretentious music.
One Horse: 1931 No. Cleveland St., Arlington VA 22201 • The Redeemers: marksman@earthlink.net
