ALBUM REVIEW: Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. Stirs in Family and Louisiana Flavor for a Zydeco Feast

Like a raucous dance party spiked with plenty of red-hot crawfish and ice-cold beer, Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters bring a taste of Louisiana to any venue they visit. Carrying on the tradition upheld by dad Alton Rubin, the original Rockin’ Dopsie, son David Rubin leads a band of movers and shakers.

Unlike most zydeco outfits, Dopsie Jr. fronts the band with a rubboard instead of an accordion strapped to his chest, giving him more room to bounce and shimmy and get in some splits worthy of James Brown as he blasts out the lead vocals. Brother Anthony is the accordionist and brother Tiger is on drums. For his latest outing, More Fun With Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and The Zydeco Twisters, brother Dwayne guests on accordion on a couple of cuts as well.

The album is an offshoot of the soundtrack from the 2023 remake of the 1989 movie Roadhouse, which starred Patrick Swayze. Musical curator Randall Poster picked Dopsie Jr. for a few tunes for the remake and liked the results so much he co-produced this outing.

It’s a mixed bag of old and new, with a handful of originals thrown in. “Ooh Woo Woo (Please Don’t Leave Me”) is a Fats Domino golden oldie from 1953. Fats’ version was a syncopated lope, but Dopsie Jr. has revved it up to a sweat-flingin’ frenzy with a touch of blues tossed in courtesy of Patrick Williams’ harp.

Revisiting Clifton Chenier’s classic “I’m Coming Home” seems to be an unspoken commandment for most zydeco artists, and Dopsie Jr. checks in dutifully with a version featuring his soulful lead, a horn section led by saxophonist Julius Handy that sounds like the Memphis Horns, and Williams once again adding a touch of blues harp.

Barbara Lynn’s 1962 soul hit “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” passed over Aretha Franklin’s tonsils in 1974 and was countrified by Freddie Fender in 1976 before Dopsie Jr. uploaded it once again with some   broken-in, leathery soul.

From left, Anthony Rubin, Lee Allen Zeno, Tiger Rubin, David Rubin, and Dwayne Rubin. (Photo by Lily Keber)

Texas guitarist Lester Williams’ 1952 jump blues classic “I Can’t Lose With This Stuff I Use” gets reinvented as a fast-paced shuffle that remains true to its big band roots with the zydeco rhythms bumping it up a notch. “That Was Your Mother” resurrects a tune that Dopsie’s dad recorded with Paul Simon for 2012’s Graceland about a traveling salesman who meets a Louisiana beauty and dazzles her with his dancehall charms:

Well I’m standing on the corner of Lafayette, State of Louisiana
Wondering what a city boy could do
To get her in a conversation
Drink a little red wine
Dance to the music of Clifton Chenier.

But there’s a twist to make the narrative hit a bit closer to home here:

Well, that was your mother
And that was your father
Before you was born, dude
When life was great.

Whether carrying on his father’s heritage or laying the foundation for his own legacy, Dopsie Jr. lets you know he’s arrived and is ready to party anywhere, anytime.

Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and The Zydeco Twisters’ More Fun With Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and The Zydeco Twisters is out Aug. 30 on ATO Records.