Fans of good old fashioned rock n roll… I have a new band for you to check out. This one has been in heavy rotation around my house the last couple weeks. They aren’t breaking any molds but it’s making for the perfect rockin’ summer soundtrack!
I checked tour dates (see below) and found that they will be on tour with Shooter Jennings in late September and early October. I saw Shooter when he was through Seattle a few months ago and that should be one raucous night of music! Check it out if they pass through your town.
Here’s an mp3 of Don’t Break the Needle courtesy of Vagrant Records:
01 Don’t Break The Needle.mp3
From the press bio:
Coming out of Baltimore, MD (via Cleveland, TN) the band has hit the road with such regularity that its recorded work can almost seem like an afterthought. But the artifact J Roddy Walston and The Business created is among the most collection-worthy albums of the past decade. The widely praised LP Hail Mega Boys although fine in its own right, can now be seen as a rough precursor to the ten tracks on their self-titled, first full-length album.
Recorded in less than two weeks at Los Angeles’ Sound City Studios and Fairfax Recordings with producer Kevin Augunas (Cold War Kids, The Vandals), the album features the band as close to live as possible with minimal overdubs and tweaking. No modern studio computer gadgetry was used or harmed in the process, either. Instead, the recordings were captured by a 16-track, two-inch Scully tape machine. In a time of racking up studio costs for spending too much time with alterations, this will arguably be seen as the best and most cost efficient, true rock n roll album in years.
Punctuated and largely based upon J Roddy Walston’s resounding piano and vocals, the band shifts through the songs: the swinging, cerebral honky-tonk, fun on the single (“Don’t Break the Needle”), a jump-up shout-a-long (“Used To Did”), a low slung, gritty traveling blues (“Use Your Language”), an arena-worthy anthem (“I Don’t Wanna Hear It”) and six others. J Roddy Walston and The Business function in that area where you just know you’ve heard these songs before. You haven’t, though. What you’ve heard was other bands speaking a similar and somewhat forgotten language of true and very rowdy rock and roll music.
The bands regular touring has turned them into word-of-mouth favorites. See them once and you’ll tell ten friends about them. They’ve toured with label mates like The Hold Steady and Murder By Death, conquered SXSW, and criss crossed some of the country’s favorite hometown venues.
Consequently, J Roddy Walston and The Business have been able to build an audience the old fashioned way. That is, through hard work and with an overwhelmingly giving live show reputation and it’s made them a really, really good band. Just as they had no need for computers and other instant gratification devices in the studio, they have no need for unearned hype. The fact is they’ve earned every bit of praise they’ve gotten. And even though they’re too nice to admit it, they’re about to get a whole lot more.
Tour Dates:
8/12 – Belly Up Aspen w/ Wolfmother – Aspen, CO
8/13 – Avalon Theater – Salt Lake City, UT
8/15 – Dante’s – Portland, OR
8/16 – Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
8/18 – Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA
8/19 – House of Blues w/ Wolfmother – Anaheim, CA
8/20 – Hard Rock Hotel w/ Wolfmother – Las Vegas, NV
8/21 – House of Blues w/ Wolfmother – San Diego, CA
9/08 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
9/09 – Soho Restaurant & Music Club – Santa Barbara, CA
9/10 – Detroit Bar – Costa Mesa, CA
9/11 – Pappy and Harriets Pioneertown Palace – Pioneer Town, CA
9/12 – Troubadour – West Hollywood, CA
9/24 – Visulite Theater w/ Shooter Jennings – Charlotte, NC
9/25 – 8×10 w/ Shooter Jennings – Baltimore, MD
9/26 – State Theatre w/ Shooter Jennings – Falls Church, VA
9/29 – Diesel w/ Shooter Jennings – Pittsburgh, PA
9/30 – Chameleon Club w/ Shooter Jennings – Lancaster, PA
10/1 – Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Shooter Jennings – Brooklyn, NY
10/2 – Middle East Downstairs w/ Shooter Jennings – Cambridge, MA
10/5 – Beachland Ballroom & Tavern w/ Shooter Jennings – Cleveland, OH
10/6 – Ottos Nightclub w/ Shooter Jennings – Dekalb, IL
10/7 – The Vogue Theatre w/ Shooter Jennings – Indianapolis, IN
10/8 – Exit In w/ Shooter Jennings – Nashville, TN
10/9 – Headliners Music Hall w/ Shooter Jennings – Louisville, KY
