Frankly, it's been too long. their album, Talking Loud, was something of a revelation to me. It was dirty blues with southern rock accents.
It was equal parts Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Emmit's Jug Band, with a garnish of Jimi Hendrix.
How many electric washboards had you heard?
I was shocked to see how well they worked in there with psychedelic guitars.
It wouldn't be quite appropriate to say they became my favorite band, by my then three year old daughter sure did love their tracks.
So, a few weeks back, I was spinning that delicious starburst vinyl slab. Then I called out into the void...when is the follow up coming?
When lord when, when's gonna be its time???
There were whispers and rumblings that there was a follow up, but what came as something as a surprise and a minor miracle was receiving word back from Sulfur City's Lori Paradis herself.
She came back with a double tap of information.
Not only was there a successor forthcoming, but there was also a predecessor.
All this time, I was under the impression that Talking Loud was Star Wars, but it turns out that it was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Before I knew it, there was a package headed my way. From Northern Ontario, Canada all the way here to St. Louis, MO.
This gave me an interesting opportunity to spin, on vinyl, the entire catalog of a band who I dig and report back to you. Because you're real. No matter what my wife or my haters say, you're really, really real and I love you so much.
Not as much as I love beer, but you know.
Today, I took the voyage that the seven tracks of Sulfur City afforded me. As with many indie releases, it's a touch on the short side. It's understandable when you're footing the bill right? There were two songs on this record, Wanna Ride With Me and Pockets both appear on Talking Loud.
The versions on the former had an innocence that the latter's experience couldn't match. Instead of those tasty Hammond Organ licks, the self titled featured straight piano.
Imagine hearing The Doors without an organ and thinking, good god damn, Manzerak should've never ditched the piano.
(NOTE: We've all heard The Doors without an organ and it sucks. But it's a good metaphor.)
It was a whole layer taken away. The self titled sounded indie in a way that Talking Loud never could.
Then there's this new album though. No Way Out.
What if you had two records and were able to extract the best bits from each of them and then you kind of gave the whole organ and piano thing amiss and went straight on into crazy town?
Well, now you've got an idea of where this band decided to take this record.
Their music has always been a little bit angry, but what if there's another level to their anger? It's really sounding like this go around.
At some point, every blues rock band needs to make a choice, do they head deeper into the crossroads or do they rock the Fillmore East?
Sulfur City has answered this difficult either or question with a resounding YES!!!!
Wait...what?
It rocks just as hard as the predecessor, but it's not any less bluesy either.
How could a band, improve on just about every single aspect of their writing and performance, not change their signature sound, but yet, make every single aspect of the record better than everything they had put out before?
In 200 years, Music Historians will be studying what's called the Sulfur City Paradox.
They will fail, but come up with interesting hypotheses.
They will fail because I, a contemporary bystander is wholly confused by this. What they are doing is impossible. They are simply Time Travelers.
This album has everything I loved about their previous work, but it's more of all of it. It's blusier. It rocks harder.
It's angrier.
It's sadder.
It's just more and more of the Sulfur City Paradox. It's maddening to me because I cannot wrap my head around how they've been able to achieve these things.
Certainly the song quality on this record is superior to the previous two releases, but it also sounds so much better than the others as well. The mix is just perfection making each track an absolute delight to listen to.
Everyone in the band has upped their game and walked in ready to play.
Simply put, this record is a must have.
Out 2/14/20 Store Facebook
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