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"Play Some Rock & Roll" is the second Mambo Sons CD
that I have had the privilege of reviewing. I would liken listening
to Mambo Sons' music to dining at a classic rock smorgasbord. Just
as we the consumers are the sum of our various listening favorites,
so are Mambo Sons the offspring of their influences, sort of a mixture of
DNA of some of the greatest rock bands of all time. You will find
within their work elements of the Stones, Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers, the Beatles etc. all woven
together into a sound that is warmly familiar yet uniquely
Mambo Sons.
The CD is certainly appropriately titled as it is primarily a rock
recording, though again the distinction between much of
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rock and blues/rock is a fine line at best. Tom Guerra provides
the elegantly tasteful guitar licks and some vocals, with fellow
Mambo Son Scott Lawson again providing the bulk of the vocal work.
Guerra and Lawson also co-wrote each of the 11 excellent songs. Add
an solid and diverse rhythm section of Jeff Keithline on bass and
Mike Hayden on drums and you have all the ingredients for a most
formidable musical force, and indeed the Mambo Sons are just
that.
This CD, as was the case in the band's previous
self-titled release, is of top quality from start to finish. There
are songs like "I Get Around Too Much" which demonstrate a Stones
influence, a beautiful "Our Time Is Getting Closer", done in the
memory and style of the late giant George Harrison, a very hot
blues/rocking track "Rockaway", a Byrd-like "What You Got", and
perhaps my favorite track, "'79" which showcases Guerra's very fine
and hard driving slide guitar. The entire recording, as previously
stated, is all good.
The CD is available from the official Mambo Sons web
site at
www.mambosons.com or from the very fine folks at my favorite
supplier CD Baby at www.cdbaby.com. Should you order though his home site,
you will find that not only is Mr. Guerra a terrific musical
artist, he is also a very nice person as well, exactly the kinds of
people we enjoy presenting to you here at
Bluesrockers.
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