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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

... like butter on a warm biscuit...

Review of WALK from Ink 19:

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.

see review on Ink 19

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