About two months ago, I emailed my father to
tell him to check out the Alabama Shakes.
"Our new favorite band," I predicted. On April 10, 2012, the Alabama Shakes released
their debut album Boys & Girls.
Most bands don't make it. For
other bands, it takes a couple albums, or more, to gain notoriety. Just take a look at The Black Keys'
journey. But, The Alabama Shakes were
booked to open for Jack White before this album was even released. If you're opening for Jack, does that mean
you must be good? Yes. And, the Athens, Alabama band proceeded to
debut at number three on the UK Album Charts (NME).
I first came across the Alabama Shakes by
stumbling upon them online at NPR Music.
My most common phrase, I need new music, was answered. I
pressed play to a video of the band playing their single Hold On and was
transported back in time. Vocalist
Brittany Howard's voice has been compared to Janis Joplin's, Robert Plant's,
Otis Redding's and Aretha Franklin's.
When I first heard her sing, I also saw her sing, and thought Macy Gray
got a soul/blues band to play with. Nevertheless, quite a catalog of
compliments. Howard has heard the
comparisons and is flatter, but thought to herself, "Bon Scott from AC/DC"
as far as how it feels to sing (NPR Music).
After listening for the past month to Boys
and Girls on NPR's First Listen, I finally swiped my debit to make an
actual CD purchase - at a CD store! I love previewing albums online, but
the actual CD has a much fuller sound.
Online you hear a radio sound and the instrumentation can be drowned
out. That might be the reason I was
skeptical of the rest of the band at first.
At first sound, from the first track Hold
On, Howard sang, "Bless my heart, bless my soul, didn't think I'd make
it to 22 years old", and I was hooked.
It was immediately apparent that Brittany Howard was a star. But, after the first few listens to the
whole album, the instrumentation didn't seem to be anything special. Then, I bought the album and Brittany's
opinion about songwriting was realized, and I'll apply it to the band's
sound. In a recent interview with NME,
she said, "A lot of people want to be different...want to be original, instead
of just writing songs together as people and being sincere about it."
I have often said that it really isn't all
that difficult to tell whether a band or musician cares about the music they're
creating. The Alabama Shakes'
instrumentation is simple, yet effective, and yes, sincere. Boys and Girls is a very strong debut
album. Its tempo is balanced and makes
for a great listen for whatever mood you're in. It will be interesting to see where the Alabama Shakes take their
sound. Comparisons have also been made
to Amy Winehouse, yet with more of a rocknroll sound and attitude. I know I will be checking them out this
summer at Central Park SummerStage - for free on June 24th! Check them out soon because they won't be
needing to open for Jack White much longer.
The Alabama Shakes are made up of: Brittany
Howard (vocals/guitar/piano/percussion), Zac Cockrell (bass/backing
vocals/guitar), Heath Fogg (guitar/backing vocals/percussion) and Steve Johnson
(drums/percussion/backing vocals).
Check out their website for upcoming shows: http://www.alabamashakes.com/tour/
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