Perhaps Scotty Don’t front man Pat Downes was getting introspective in his raspy Kid Rock- whiskey bar drawl on the first track of Scotty Don’t’s debut album Songs from the Back Porch. As the chorus to “A Little Time” gets heavy, Downes exclaims, “A little time, a little time to run away” Perhaps he was speaking about his band’s current ambitions when writing this catchy hook.
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Scotty Don't
|  Entertainment
Art
"Songs from the Back Porch"
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The Rhode Island boys, who people may have mistaken for Long Beach surfing aficionados, thanks to their years as members the premier Sublime cover band Badfish, are certainly not running away----from their roots as a reggae-infused rock band that is. With their new venture into the world of original song-writing, Scotty Don’t is proving they have the chops to hold their own on the music scene; vibing with their self-created licks just as easily as they often have with tunes originated in the brain of the late Bradley Nowell.
A blend of Rastafarian beats with a new age-punk pop overlay defines the album and keeps your head bumping.
For four musicians that built their rep living out the fantasies of a band cut down thanks to heroin, booze and the general temptation of fame, it’s ironic that Scotty Don’t’s first original release seems so fresh and clean-cut. But, don’t worry these boys still got swagger in their own right.
The opening track “A Little Time” hits hard with a steel slide guitar and a funky bluesy twang. Organ laced throughout the track fills it out and adds a fuller sound to the foot stompin’ beat the sound carries on its back.
“Back Porch” is a fratty drinking anthem style tune. Its chorus and “I don’t gave a damn attitude” is infectious. The activity that should accompany this song is spelled out in pretty clear sight “Sitting on the back porch, burning down my torch/Lookin’ all around, listen to the song, so many people, but there’s none of them around.” Confusion amidst the comforting nature of mind-altering substances: sheer youth rebellion.
Downes, the lead vocalist for Badfish since ’07, is able to meander his vocals in various directions. “Movies on TV” is a flamenco-style Latin number with a unique take on the warped nature of human’s predication with Hollywood.
Tracks like “Hold on to your Stories” and “Fallin Down” slip into the poppier variety that you would likely hear multiple times in a week at a store like Hollister.
Their power chords accompanied by whiny drawl leave you wondering what went into the creative process behind the decision to include these songs. Nevertheless, Scotty Don’t’s versatility reemerges in an Irish jig of sorts entitled “Later on Today,” an appropriate change of pace to Songs from the Back Porch. “LOT” could be enjoyed over a glass of Jameson in Dublin rather than while smoking a spliff on a back porch in Long Beach.
With Songs from the Back Porch, Scotty Don’t departs from their SoCal façade and expands the reach of their talent with an impressive debut album. Maybe the Providence boys can finally do what Nowell never did and enjoy the perks of success.
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House of Blues, Chicago...
Written by Guest on 2009-02-26 10:54:14
Scotty Don't opens for Badfish on March 21. |
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