Red Rooster
Walk
Self-Released
Red Rooster’s sound typically gets put into the alt-country category, but that just provides the foundation. They incorporate virtually every other genre into their third and best album, Walk.
“Bluebird” has a slower hip-hop feel complete with record scratching and synth bass lines, but lead singer Jay Erickson’s voice and guitar solo add a heavy dose of blues. Then, just to spice it up, they add a jazz sax solo. The mash-up sounds completely random, but making these odd combinations flow is what Red Rooster is so good at.
“Black Point Road” is a beautiful pop song that they Rooster-fied with harmonies and banjo pickin’, turning a really good song into a great one.
Background and harmonizing vocalist Susannah Hornsby takes the lead on “Borrowed Money” and her voice is like butter on a warm biscuit. It just melts you, especially on this 6/8 time gem which sprinkles electronic blips and a little sax over a melancholy rhythm and a deceptively sorrowful chorus: “Borrowed money buys her diamonds/ Borrowed money keeps her happy.”
This album as a whole is fantastic for a variety of reasons. Red Rooster puts multiple genres into a big pot and stirs it around making a musical concoction that is truly unique. With each listen, there is a different instrument that comes out, or a blip that you didn’t notice before. If that’s not enough reason to listen to Walk repeatedly, then do it because the songs are just that friggin’ great.
Red Rooster: http://www.redroostermusic.com
