Like ice cold lemonaid and watermelon on a summer afternoon, Sunshine — the new album from twin cites revivalists Davina & the Vagabonds — is good old-fashioned fun.
Released in May of 2014, the album is set up like an old LP with A and B sides, featuring nine new songs and three reinvented covers, which highlight the unique instrumentation of a rollicking quintet held together by Davina Sowers’ on piano, acoustic bass, drum kit, and a clever trumpet and trombone horn section.
The tunes are a fresh mix of Tin Pan Alley pop, Vaudeville jazz, and back porch blues, which showcase the delightful vocal styling’s and compositional fortitude of Sowers.
The opening title track is a swinging girl group sing-along of self empowerment. The piano remains the center for the encouragement anthem “Flow,” and an ode to the night time called “Fizzle Out.”
Sowers then down-shifts to the melancholy for the haunting blues tune “Away From Me.” The macabre twisting tango, “I Try To Be Good,” is a study in devilish behavior. Side A ends with Davina preaching advice to a man with girl trouble for “You Better Start Praying.” The ragtime house party, “Red Shoes,” opens side B, and you feel transported to a roaring ’20s speakeasy for the sonically delightful “Throw It to the Wolves.”
The band then digs into the deep shuffle of the Eddie Miller classic “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Waters.” Everyone gets to show off their chops during the hot Fats Waller swing “You Must Be Losing Your Mind.” Even drummer Connor McRae gets a solo during the six minute show-stopper.
The lovely solo ballad “Heavenly Day” is listed as the final track, But Davina can’t resist bringing the band back for the encore ”Under Lock and Key,” sending us home with another sweet, swinging tune.
http://davinaandthevagabonds.com/
