Whether or not Southern Rock actually began with the Allman Brothers Band, they surely solidified it from an idea and an attitude into a specific, distinctive sound: greasy, fervent blues-rock with soaring guitars, spiced with both r&b and gospel, and strong musical and lyrical roots in the region in which most of its best-known artists grew up.<\/p>\n
The Allmans were undoubtedly an important influence for Greenville, South Carolina singer-songwriter-guitarist-bandleader Marcus King, but listening to the gritty, impassioned vocals he lays down on these songs you can\u2019t help thinking he\u2019s also listened to a few Black Crowes records, not to mention Janis Joplin. On Carolina Confessions<\/i>, King and his crack band\u2014Jack Ryan on drums, Stephen Campbell on bass, Justin Johnson on trumpet, trombone, and tambourine, Dean Mitchell on sax and flute, and DeShawn Alexander on keys, with Kristen Rogers contributing harmony vocals on four tracks\u2014lay down a set of richly textured Southern Rock that honors those forebears while ploughing fresh ground of its own. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Opener \u201cConfessions\u201d features the core band at their best: tight, often ferocious ensemble playing by the whole group behind King\u2019s passionate, whiskey-drenched lead vocal; it\u2019s the kind of coiled-up number that feels like it could break out at any moment into either a delirious party or the end of the world. Either way, whatever happens, it\u2019s gonna be big. After dancing on the edge of release for five and a half minutes \u201cConfessions\u201d gives way to \u201cWhere I\u2019m Headed,\u201d a tune whose uplifting essence and expansive guitar solos\u2014especially the closing slide explosion\u2014suggest a fondness for Tedeschi Trucks Band, i.e. earthy roots rock with a hint of jam band transcendence in the mix.<\/p>\n
\u201cHomesick\u201d is just what it sounds like, a melancholy number about missing home (\u201cMy heart is due back south\u201d), while \u201c8 A.M.\u201d feels like it encapsulates the heart of the group\u2019s sound in its third minute as the horns sway and King\u2019s guitar stings. \u201cHow Long\u201d\u2014the one co-write here, for which King teams with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and Nashville songsmith Pat McLaughlin\u2014opens with an ecstatic rhythm and blues jam, channeling Muscle Shoals as guitar, horns, a pulsing rhythm section and snazzy Hammond accents meet in exuberant communion. I defy you to keep still while this one plays.<\/p>\n
The second half of the album opens up with a pair of ballads\u2014\u201cRemember,\u201d a rather haunted acoustic number, and \u201cSide Door,\u201d a warm electric blues. \u201cAutumn Rains\u201d greets you with rich harmonies and layered acoustic and electric instrumentation, building to a lilting, lyrical, rather Claptonesque electric solo. By contrast, \u201cWelcome \u2019Round Here\u201d opens dark and atmospheric, led by a steady, deliberate kick drum and crunchy reverbed chords, then adding King\u2019s haunting, desperate vocals. At 1:08 the song explodes with muscular horns and guitars before falling back again 30 seconds later, creating a tidal-surge push and pull that keeps building steam to a dynamic, powerhouse finish.<\/p>\n
Closer \u201cGoodbye Carolina\u201d offers a poignant \u201cDear Jane\u201d letter to King\u2019s hometown as he explains why he must move on. \u201cTell me your goodbyes \/ Where I\u2019m going I won\u2019t have those reminders of what I lost \/ What was taken away from me \/ And I hope you\u2019ll understand I was a broken man in my hometown \/ Need to find my own peace.\u201d In the sixth minute, guitar, horns, and organ join together in a sky-hugging jam that\u2019s both ecstatic and mournful.<\/p>\n
It’s no surprise at all to find that the crisp-yet-organic sound and smart, everything-you-need-and-nothing-you-don\u2019t arrangements on Carolina Confessions<\/i> took shape under the guiding hand of ace producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlisle, Chris Stapleton, Amanda Shires, Sturgill Simpson), a top-shelf sonic craftsman whose legend only continues to grow.<\/p>\n
Albums like Carolina Confessions<\/i> remind us that music is more than just sound; it is an artifact of culture offering a full-bodied representation of a time and a place and a way of life. Richly textured and passionately delivered, Carolina Confessions<\/i> establishes that the Marcus King Band is the real deal through and through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10747],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46370","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-marcus-king-band","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46370"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}