Nearly every contemporary music genre has some root in the blues; some genres more than others but the relationship is almost always there. Rock and roll probably owes the largest debt to the blues as evidenced by the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of bands who have merged those two sounds. There are two common camps in the blues-rock world. There's Southern rock as popularized by The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, etc. There is also what I call the Stones rock approach to combining the blues and rock: The Black Crowes are a good reference point for this style.
I'm reluctant to say Oklahoma City's The Rounders have found a unique way to fuse the blues with contemporary music because so little under the sun is new, but I am comfortable saying they may have found a couple of new wrinkles.
The Rounders have found a way to combine a '90s alternative sound with the blues on Wish I Had You, their first album for Blind Pig Records, released earlier this year. In some ways, this is the perfect band for me. I'm a child of the '90s and I've become an avid fan of the blues. For some reason, Collective Soul, Candlebox, and Blind Melon are the bands that come to mind when I listen to this. I realize that's not exactly the pinnacle of the alternative movement, but don't let that scare you away because The Rounders don't sound like carbon copies of any of them. Combining these two sounds is a fresh idea and one that works surprisingly well... most of the time.
The album opens with “God Knows I'm Trying,” a song that can only be described as damn cool. Brian Whitten's vocal is restrained, yet smoldering. That's a damn difficult thing to do, and he nails it. A lead guitar figure plays throughout the intro, verses, and choruses. Stu Williamson's drumming and percussion is near perfect — I can probably count on one hand the number of times he reaches for a cymbal. The rhythm is pounded out on snare and bass drum, with a shaking tambourine mixed low into the background.
Article comments
1 - A.L. Harper
You are such a reviewing stud Josh. Will you have my babies?
2 - Josh
Biologically impossible, but I am every bit the Review Stud. You're a clown, A.L., thanks for reading.
3 - Oklahoma Rock
Thanks for reviewing The Rounders!