After nearly half a decade, Tulsa's
Electric Rag Band is back with a new studio album.
As the liner notes for "
If You Got Some" say, "Remember that speeding up and slowing down is a way of life."
This album does plenty of both.
The tunes are more complex than any three-chord rock ditty, and they combine a rich mix of blues, Americana, rockabilly, ragtime, country, folk and straight-up rock 'n' roll. Some call it "roots" music. Maybe it is.
ERB's intoxicating blend of sounds is fermented in the history of all American music, from Piedmont blues (also called East Coast blues) to punk rock. It's drinking music. It's dancing music. It's thinking music.
The title track for "
If You Got Some" is a not-so-subtle curb-check to those cigar-smoking, shot-toasting, couch-hogging, girlfriend-stealing, cig-bumming, guitar-borrowing mooches of the world.
The tune's false start is punctuated with clinking bottles.
Pat Cook's slide guitar reels with drunken irony. The mooches of the world may know this song's about them, but they're too vain to realize that it's a sarcastic kick in the pants.
Tunes such as "
Pontiac Joe" and "
Suck on Purpose" leave little doubt of the split-tongue compliments within.
"
Go Baby Go" is a classic rocker in the vein of early surf-rockabilly classics. "
Across the Sea" translates an Irish-tinged ballad of love and death.
"
Government Rant" is a snarky proclamation of independence mixed with mouth-harp, harmonica and lyrics about jerky politicians.
Overall, the album's 13 tracks (plus a few hidden gems at the end) are about as Green Country as it gets.
So, yes, it's roots music in the truest sense that it exquisitely blends the richest of Tulsa traditions: great live music and inspired, quirky songwriting.
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PLUS! Read the full interview with the band at tulsaworld.com,
HERE .
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IF YOU GOT SOMEArtist: Electric Rag Band
Available at: tulsaworld.com/RagBand, Amazon, live shows
Released: Oct. 16 on ERB Records
Rating: 90 (of 100)
Download: “If You Got Some,” “Mustard and Provolone,” “Pontiac Joe,” “Go Baby Go,” “Suck on Purpose”
