Under the banner of ‘Mambo Sons’ Tom Guerra and
Scott Lawson have issued three fabulous CDs. Firstly, there was the self
titled debut ‘Mambo Sons’ (1999), a good rock ‘n’ roll album
laying down the gauntlet of proper music, none of those tape loops for
these boys. By the time of the second album ‘Play Some Rock &
Roll’ the boys had really hit their stride, and for their pains
‘Play Some Rock & Roll’ was voted best independent release of
the year by the prestigious NY Rock Magazine. (I can tell you without a
doubt it will definitely be Mott the Dog’s album of the year this
year.)
Now in 2005 we are given ‘Racket of Three’ which
sees the boys now all out at a full speed musical gallop. This album
simply wipes the floor with any of its contemporaries over the last few
years.
Since the last album, the line up of ‘Mambo Sons’
has changed a little. Mike Hayden has slipped off the drum stool to make
way for the very impressive Joe (The Cat) Lemieux, whilst with the
departure of Jeff Keithline on bass, Scott Lawson has simply strapped on
the bass himself and taken over the four string, allowing the Mambo’s
a very timeless sound, giving you the impression that Scott may have
admired the odd bass line from Ronnie Lane of the ‘Faces’ or Andy
Fraser of ‘Free’. Which now gives you ‘The Racket Of Three’.
As soon as opening song ‘Play Some Rock & Roll
(She’s Comin’ Over)’ starts up with some bristling guitar riffs
from Tom Guerra, your attention is grabbed, your foot starts to tap, and
most embarrassingly of all you start to try and sing-a-long to the words
on the first time you hear it. By the time Scott Lawson sings at exactly
one minute forty eight seconds into the first song, ‘’Yeah; And I
just gotta say WAAAAAAHHH” before Tom Guerra comes in with the first
of his guitar solo’s that will peel the wallpaper from your room, you
just know that you are listening to something very special.
This is not music for little boys and girls, this is
the stuff of men and their ladies; here is music that Keith Richards and
Johnny Depp would put on if they were having a party.
After the opening blast of ‘Play Some Rock &
Roll (She’s Comin’ Over)’ you get ‘Valentine’ which starts off
with a little acoustic guitar introduction, but don’t be fooled by
this and the title - the band soon swaggers into the chorus. There are
no thoughts of taking their audience to school from the Mambo’s, they
just sing songs from their big old Connecticut hearts. There is nothing
wrong with knowing what a song is about by just looking at the title,
that’s allowed these boys to let the music do the talking for them.
Each song on the album has it’s own identity, some with a lighter
feel, some as heavy as an anvil, the one thing they have in common is
that the Mambo groove flows through it’s veins.
‘Mr Rebound’ is quite delightful, whilst
‘Sidewinder Walk’ is a great song in itself which has a false ending
which then allows the guitars to really kick up their heels. ‘You
Broke My Mind’ shows off that oft forgotten musical skill of smashing
bottles, and includes the immortal line “Now I’ve got whisky
breathe, but you’ve got half a mind.”
You could put this CD on from start to finish at any
party, and the only thing you would have to do at the end is push play
again. It’s that good.
As well as holding down the bass playing
responsibilities, Scott Lawson gives a vocal tour de force throughout
the entire collection, showing off a wide range of throats, mostly very
buoyant, with a nuance of audacity, getting down and dirty with the
guitar work of his partner on ‘Been Out Of Touch’, but often as well
very tongue in cheek. Then this is a rock ‘n’ roll album, and it is
supposed to be fun.
Joe (“The Cat”) Lemieux was an excellent choice
of drummer: he is very unselfish, leaving each song with plenty of
space, playing in the same way as Charlie Watts does for the Rolling
Stones. Tom Guerra is one of America’s most respected guitarists, but
for ‘Racket of Three’ he really pulls out all of the stops, playing
like an axe hero when required, although by no means dominating any
song, adding some great slide guitar to ‘Be On Time’. But his
greatest asset to the Mambo’s is his ability to switch styles to suit
each individual song. Of course his whistle playing on ‘Rummy Hop’
should not be overlooked.
Mambo Sons are definitely a guitar orientated rock
‘n’ roll band, but when they do call for a little tinkling of the
ivories, only the best will do, and a special bow should taken by Andre
Balas whose barrel house piano on ‘Play Some Rock & Roll (She’s
Comin’ Over)’ is nothing short of superb, whilst elsewhere Matt
Zeiner does an excellent job fitting in beautifully with the Mambo’s.
It is impossible to listen to The Mambo Sons without
a great big cheese eating grin spreading across your face, which is what
rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to be all about. They maybe a racket of
three, but a very fine racket it is to.
This is all about rockin’ guitar, bass, drums,
throat, and songs; who can possibly want more than that? For more
information on the wonderful Mambo’s please look up their website at
www.mambosons.com. This is music to enjoy.
The thing I don’t understand is - why is their
second album called ‘Play Some Rock & Roll’ but this record has
a song on it with that same title? Odd really...
Another (re)release from Christopher G. Moore, with
Zero Hour in Phnom Penh (ISBN 974-93035-9-8, Heaven Lake Press) which was
originally published as ‘Cut Out’ in 1994. This book was last year’s
winner of the German Critics Award for Crime Fiction, following its
translation from Moore’s native English.
Mott’s CD review: Mambo Sons - Racket of Three
5
Stars *****