Don't you love it when a band you really dig puts out a disc behind your back? When I came across the new Mofro record yesterday, my first reaction was to feel like a teat for not knowing about it. Loved their first two records, but I guess it's just not one of those bands I make a point to track religiously. Sort of like Jon Secada.
Anyway, I bought Country Ghetto immediately upon contact.
For those unfamiliar with Mofro—or JJ Grey And Mofro, as this release is billed—they are a Florida-based swamp-rock outfit with a deep, bluesy grit. No big surprises musically, but where they fall short in originality, their infectious soul-on-sleeve delivery picks up the slack.
While Country Ghetto doesn't quite boast the granular, deep-fried funk of Blackwater and Lochloosa, Grey's hearty, drawn-out pipes carry the tunes on this third effort to a more commandingly melodic place.
That said, this track does conjure the murky funk of the band's earlier stuff.
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I'm still looking for the original recording of this filthy snippet off RJD2's Your Face Or Your Kneecaps mix tape. Any informants?
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Not much to say about Matt Costa. At first glance, this guy's aura seems somewhat contrived; he is, after all, on Jack Johnson's Brushfire label, where everything tends to sound awfully similar. But he is no Donavon Frankenreiter (that's a good thing, by the way) and musically, his compositions are more clever and complex than one might expect out of the Brushfire camp.
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Bonus Track:
Well said.
Posted by: Emanuele | October 29, 2008 at 12:49 AM