REVIEW: Tonebenders, Tonebenders (Yep Roc)
- Bill Holmes
Mixing Memphis Stax/Volt soul, greasy horns and the filthiest Fender Rhodes sound I've heard in years, North Carolina's Tonebenders have flushed the fashion and issued a CD chock full of hip shaking grits. Lounge music my ass - eschewing vocals on most tracks, these guys cook up music so varied, flavorful and saucy that Quentin Tarantino could work backwards and make a whole movie just based on the groove.
What gives the record such charm is the tightrope walk between laid-back riffs and combustive chops; the listener feels like he has stumbled into some great party in a back room yet there's more direction than pure jam. Boasting ex-members of both Whiskeytown and Six String Drag, somehow the quintet sounds nothing like either. Think more along the lines of Exile On Main Street era Stones on some of the vocal tracks (guitarist Jim Pendergast, when he does sing, has that combination drawl/growl that almost sounds Cockney), yet capable at any moment of echoing Pere Ubu, If or The Yardbirds (and in the case of "Rudy The Frisbee Assassin", all three at once!). The two-man horn section sounds like more because they don't play the standard horn parts we've all heard a thousand times. Different, like Morphine is different, but not *like* Morphine.
How to describe a band like this? Yeahhhh.......if you have a sense of adventure, appreciate roots rock and Southern soul and aren't afraid to get a little jazz on your fingers, I highly recommend the ride. Those with pop sensibilities will probably like the Credence-like leadoff track "Soda Pop Quiz" or the Jaggerisms on "Favorite Dress"; I prefer the funky but chic "Der Der Der" even though I have no idea what that means.
Yep Roc is a small label from Raleigh North Carolina, so you might not find this everywhere. I was hooked at a listening station in a small Chicago store. You can try your luck at 919-929-7648 (REDEYE202@aol.com) and thank me later.
