Friday, February 1, 2019

Take Good Care by The Revivalists. An album for people who want to feel good.

I've been listening to The Revivalists for about the past two years with a good amount of regularity.  Their breakthrough single of Wish I Knew You put them onto the pop culture map and was featured in national Blue Moon commercials.  As it turns out we've all been late to the party, and in many ways still are.

While released in early November, I'm just now getting around to listening their latest full album Take Good Care. 

What I found was an album that's positive and full of confidence without being braggadocios.  To me the Revivalists are hitting a the right notes and hitting them hard.  The feelings of soul music, southern swamp rock, and new age Americana all come home in a gorgeously produced soundscape.

While the album opens with a softer intro pack, it quickly opens up into a quick pacing sing-along rock song that encapsulates the whole album. 

"All My Friends" is about being rebellious and confidant, while at the same time knowing that the relationships that have been forged that truly keeps them afloat and positive.  While the voice and lyrics shape a lot of the sound, you can't but also hear all of the surrounding band pieces working together to push the song along.  

Quickly following that is a delightfully sultry number in "Change" that is starts slow and quiet but after about a minute breaks down into a solid rock song with images of alcohol and drugs balanced with ego and money.

After this I found myself a bit bored by the next three tracks.  They aren't bad songs, perfectly fine little numbers that slow down the energy of the album and tried to add some musical variety and depth while remaining true to their roots.  They still "fit" in the album but aren't as memorable as some others.  Where as "All My Friends" and "Change" might be played at a party or a workout, you might play these songs during an afternoon lunch for background music but they lack the energy that I think the band really excels with.

The pace gets picked back up with songs like "Oh No" and "You and I" and while there are a few more slower paced songs they still unpack nicely. 

Then, at nearly the end of the album the band unloads "Celebration".  If there is a song that will undoubtedly fall into the category of "songs to be played by every wedding band capable going forward", pay attention to "Celebration" a song that sounds so quintessential to weddings that you swore you've heard it before.  There is nothing new in the song, nothing particularly incredible musically other than the fact that it just seems so perfect in terms of how a wedding celebration should sound. 

All in all, if you want to listen to a band that is producing great independent and soulful rock, you really need to Take Good Care.

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