Rock and Roll needs more saxophones. There's a dimension missing from the Lead Guitar/Rhythm Guitar/Bass Guitar/Drum foursome that no combination of pedals can really imitate. A sax is expressive and versatile, at turns Jazzy or Bluesy. It's almost an emotional layer.
For the Buddhacrush, it's a lynchpin of a protean sound that never settles into a single genre. This is hardly surprising, since the bandmembers came together from wildly different musical backgrounds. Rock/Blues/Jazz/Reggae/Celtic/Pop/Soul--you name it, they've probably done a bit of it.
The great thing is that the sax doesn't have to carry that role alone. The saxophone doesn't get overused because the fiddler is playing off his riffs. Not only do they have the depth to provide a wide variety of configurations, the members of the Buddhacrush have the experience to blend it all into an album of songs that are consistently musically interesting. And it's fun. You listen to the music and you're sure that people get up and dance at their shows. "Twice As Good" makes my butt move in my chair, which can be dangerous on the freeways. On other songs, they coax the sax/fiddle combination into a Morrocan flavored languid lushness.
But what I really like on the Buddhacrush is the songwriting. Some songwriting is storytelling and some is photography. Tim McGlashen's songwriting is painting in oils. Brushstrokes broad or narrow capture the essential image, imply the motion, reinforce the musical feeling. It's not a snapshot; it's more precise. It's deliberate choices about what it will take to capture something.
The songs are multi-layered. "Like Shakespeare Waiting to Happen" is told by a man who is in love with a woman who doesn't see him and the tragedy for both of them of the missed opportunity. Like Hamlet's The Murder of Gonzago, the key is how the players react to the story within the story. It hints and suggests, but the song won't tell you. You get to figure it out yourself.
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