The Commotions - Volume II
Volume II, the dozen song release from
Canada’s eleven piece R&B and soul act The Commotions, explores a variety
of styles under that musical umbrella with a confidence level and steadiness
that we often associate with older players and long standing musical units. Sax
player Brian Asselin, vocalist Rebecca Noelle, and guitarist David Gaw handle
the band’s songwriting on this second release and the trio of songwriters achieve
an unity of sound and approach that’s surprising considering they bring three
distinct strands of influence into play here. The Commotions’ Volume II uses a
horn section to fantastic effect and relegates the guitar to a secondary role
and features strong production that emphasizes a chunky bottom end for the
band’s sound. This is one of the best releases you’ll hear in 2017 regardless
of genre and Volume II is such a high quality it seems to promise even more
formidable releases to come.
“Good Enough” propels this album
towards the sky without a hint of hesitation. Rebecca Noelle’s vocals figure in
a number of the songs on Volume II and her effect on the tracks is uniformly
transformative. This specific song comes off as a near perfect example of how
musicians and singers can seemingly feed off one another and make a song’s natural
build all the more dramatic. The horns take up a big portion of the song’s
sound but The Commotions show they are capable of shifting gears with the next
song. “Bad Girl” lets guitarist David Gaw roam a little more freely and his
contributions emphasize the bluesy influences in the song. The blues influence
in the band’s music doesn’t announce itself in any overt way, but any serious
music fan will realize that it forms the essential bedrock of everything The
Commotions do on Volume II.
“Let Me Kiss You, Baby” will win over
anyone still listening by this point and not entirely convinced. Noelle is
absolutely on fire as a singer for this one and, much like the opener, the
audience can allow themselves to be carried away by the sound of musicians
responding to a once in a lifetime moment, Second singer Jeff Rogers gives a coolly
confident performance on the song “Say Yes to Me Tonight” and the optimistic
sweep powering the track comes at a great place in the album’s running order.
Rogers is a little wilder and less formal with his singing on the album “Right
Kind of Wicked” and the pumping soul energy of this tune is cut with a dash of
funk to make it work even better. It concludes the album’s, arguably, most
potent run beginning with the song “Let Me Kiss You, Baby”. The energy here is
off the charts.
Jeff Asselin’s drumming on “Last Look”
is quite impressive considering how busy it is and how it never misses. Noelle
shows another side of her vocal talent on the song by combining her liveliness
with a looseness that other tracks don’t exhibit. Volume II ends on a bluesier
note than some might expect with “Come Clean” and the smoky qualities of
Rebecca Noelle’s singing are deliciously theatrical without ever sounding
overwrought. The Commotions are a wonderful outfit that manage a massive sound
that never sounds too cluttered or asks too much of the listener and Volume II
seems to show them realizing their vision of music with brilliant results.
Montey Zike
No comments:
Post a Comment