In 2009 Black Joe Lewis and the infamous Honeybears slapped me upside the head with their up-tempo R&B jams. Jams that would have made the hardest workin' man in show business rise from the dead. Now in 2011 they are back with Scandalous and are ripping it up as usual. Songs like "Booty City", "You Been Lyin", and the "Ballad of Jimmy Tanks" are getting me majorly geeked for the summer. Every song on the album is great, but these three to me embody my favorite kind of summertime venue. The kind of scene where everyone is dancing, hot weather with even hotter women; cold beers, and smiles from wall to wall; entrance to exit, to the bar and back. If you got a puss on your face or a hand on the rail get the hell out. If you can't have fun here, check your pulse cause' you might be dead. Black Joe Lewis man! This IS the after party! Normally bands that blow me away with their first album disappoint with their follow up. I don't know why. Usually they try and get too experimental and do too much, or they try and go mainstream and do too little. I don't know, maybe I expect too much. But Scandalous bucks the trend. The band stays true to the R&B/soul groove, but then added a new element to when they slow it down by getting way bluesy and coarse sounding. Songs like "I'm Gonna Leave You" and "She's So Scandalous" scratch my soul where I didn't even know I had an itch. Get the album, but make sure you see them live too, real talk.
March 18, 2011
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Scandalous (2011)
In 2009 Black Joe Lewis and the infamous Honeybears slapped me upside the head with their up-tempo R&B jams. Jams that would have made the hardest workin' man in show business rise from the dead. Now in 2011 they are back with Scandalous and are ripping it up as usual. Songs like "Booty City", "You Been Lyin", and the "Ballad of Jimmy Tanks" are getting me majorly geeked for the summer. Every song on the album is great, but these three to me embody my favorite kind of summertime venue. The kind of scene where everyone is dancing, hot weather with even hotter women; cold beers, and smiles from wall to wall; entrance to exit, to the bar and back. If you got a puss on your face or a hand on the rail get the hell out. If you can't have fun here, check your pulse cause' you might be dead. Black Joe Lewis man! This IS the after party! Normally bands that blow me away with their first album disappoint with their follow up. I don't know why. Usually they try and get too experimental and do too much, or they try and go mainstream and do too little. I don't know, maybe I expect too much. But Scandalous bucks the trend. The band stays true to the R&B/soul groove, but then added a new element to when they slow it down by getting way bluesy and coarse sounding. Songs like "I'm Gonna Leave You" and "She's So Scandalous" scratch my soul where I didn't even know I had an itch. Get the album, but make sure you see them live too, real talk.
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7 Comments:
Hey Nuts, are you by chance at sxsw now?! They're the toast of the festival about now. People won't shut their mouths about their sets :)
No not at sxsw, but I have seen them at slims in 2009 and at san jose music in the park, both times were amazing. In San Jose they had legendary pimp Fillmore Slim introduce them!
BJL coverage on twitter of SXSW is pretty sweet too.
Them being from Austin may* be part of the fuss, eh? Speaking of awesomeness... just left a Fitz/Tantrums showcase. Umm, wow. Most dynamic performance I've seen in a while. Definitely a sxsw highlight for me. The even did a "Sweet Dreams" cover. I told him to read QuickCritMusic :)
I can't wait to see Fitz and the Tantrums. Last time I had tickets but they canceled. However they are coming back to the blank club in May, so I will be there fo sho'!
I'll be sure to post a live clip I took, you'll love it. He looks like a young David Bowie on-stage with just a hint of non-shirtless Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger at his (pea)cockiest :)
I am so amped to BJL when he plays at Dantes on April 10th. They tour it up the last time I saw them.
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