Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 06/08/2010
Run Time: 40:39
The Quick and Easy Boys are hard to pigeonhole. The trio --
Jimmy Russell, guitar and vocals;
Sean Badders, bass and vocals;
Michael Goetz, drums -- started playing together in 2005 in the college town of Eugene, Oregon. They soon moved to Portland, home to an eclectic indie music scene and they fit right in with their impossible-to-define sound. The band says they play music influenced by
Willie Nelson,
Funkadelic, and
the Minutemen, and as unlikely as it seems, you can hear traces of all three influences in their music. They're serious musicians with chops to spare, despite the fact that they dress in police uniforms, bunny suits, and lederhosen. The album is a riot of loose, barely contained energy and lo-fi noise, but the lax production values are part of its charm. A taste of
Hendrix-influenced guitar noodling opens
"7 Ways," a combination of loping rock and funky Motown thrash. Motown, Mersybeat, and the band's own brand of garage soul send
"The Letter" into orbit, then
Russell brings it home with a guitar solo full of shredding 32nd notes.
"Red Light Rabbit" is a funk-punk rave-up with psychedelic country guitar that sounds like
the Seeds sitting in with an early version of
Funkadelic. For the Philly soul of
"Take Your Medicine" Badders channels the
Stylistics'
Russell Tompkins against
Russell's chattering
Catfish Collins guitar, his own disco bassline, and a solid 4/4 beat from
Goetz.
"Daggers" closes the album on what seems to be a contemplative jazzy note.
Badders does another
Stylistics impression; he sings this broken-hearted ballad in his high register against
Russell's melodic guitar ramblings. After
Russell's drops a short bluesy solo, the energy starts building and they let loose for a finale that's a barrage of unruly psychedelic chaos.
~j. poet, Rovi
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