I didn’t write this fine review but I wanted to share it with the No Depression community as it came from a very good friend of mine and music scholar Troy Michael, the editor of Innocent Words.
With their third release in as many years, the Stacy Jones Band sounds more confident, ballsier and sounding like they are having one hell of a good time recording “No Need to Spell It Out.”
The Stacy Jones Band is a four piece which calls the Pacific Northwest home. They are a talented bunch of players and have been honored with the 2010 Best Female Vocalist and 2009 Best New Band awards from the Washington Blues Society, so they have a lot to live up to with their latest release, and they don’t disappoint.
With 12 original new songs, the Stacy Jones Band – Stacy Jones (vocals, harmonica, keyboards, acoustic guitar); Tom Jones (bass, vocals); Jeff Menteer (guitar, vocals); and Rick Bowen (drums, vocals) – rip right into it with the opening track “No Matter What.” With Stacy Jones killer harmonica playing over the band’s steady groove, you are in for a roadhouse-style good time. Jones’ vocals are bright, powerful (and thankfully not buried in the mix), because she can wail her heart out – channeling her inner Etta James, Janis Joplin and Beth Hart. The fact that she is also a very skilled harmonica player and keyboardist makes this front woman a force that can hold her own.
On stage is where these new tracks are meant to be played. “You Belong To Me” would go down with a cold one in a dirty juke joint, while “Do What You Wanna” is a sassy hip shaker for all to enjoy. Above all else, “Heavy Water” and “Think I Feel Like Leavin’” are two of the best songs the Stacy Jones Band has ever written. “Heavy Water” is a sexy smoldering jam with haunting harmonica in the background, and it builds to a powerful chorus. “Think I Feel Like Leavin’” is a throwback blues jam you might have heard coming out of the small bars of Mississippi in the 1940s.
It’s a pleasure to watch a band grow through their records, and Stacy Jones Band has certainly done just that. No Need to Spell It Out shows that this quartet has matured to be one of the best blues/soul/rock bands not only in the Northwest, but the entire country.
Originally Appeared in Innocent Words Feb 2012:
http://www.innocentwords.com/tabId/807/itemId/3389/Stacy-Jones-Band-No-Need-to-Spell-It-Out.aspx
