I've held back from posting Savoy Motel on here since they emerged a few months ago as there's a fairly distinct whiff of hype about them. Coming out of Nashville, Tennessee they have a resolutely retro element to their sound. They're utterly mired in the seventies in terms of their sound, the way they dress and the look of their videos. They might almost be torn out, lock stock and barrel, of an episode of The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family.
But listening through to their self titled debut album from last year yesterday for the first time in its entirety I got a different impression. It made me recall Dazed & Confused, one of the very best Pop Culture movies ever made. Set on the last day of the school of a High School in Austin Texas it follows a group of disparate students and is soundtracked for the most part by a set of songs of the sort of heavy rock songs which Savoy Motel draw on strongly for their sound.
But there are two tracks on the OST which hint at a bigger picture. Dr. John's Right Place, Wrong Time and War's Low Rider. And Savoy Motel understand this aspect of Southern Rock. They have the funk. It bleeds consistently across the record. So, four months or so after my initial reservations, I give them the thumbs up!
No comments:
Post a Comment