Crusin’ –  Gentlemen and Scholars (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

The wonderfully named Gentlemen and Scholars sound like nothing less than the beating heart of the American Dream. It is the sound of truck stops blending into back street Chicago blues clubs, of late night diners and jukeboxes which in turn become the sound of a rocking chair creaking on a back porch as the screen door slams, Mary’s dress sways and there is a distinct possibility that Roy Orbison is playing on the radio. It is the sound of an alternative, underground path that music took when it should have become the mainstream.

It follows in the spirit of great rock and roll from The Allman Brothers to The Black Crowes and from Muddy Waters to The Black Keys. It struts, is sassy, musically underplayed, just laying down the required riffs and beats to get the job done but never over playing its hand and its slinky, staccato grooves rock like a beast.

It is the sound of a midnight ritual designed to re-animate the zombie corpse of the muse of music that mattered, still matters and will continue to matter, long after the current boy band fad has returned to a day job where the main concern is asking the customer if they want fries with that!

Then again with a string of albums behind them as proof that they have paid their dues, you always knew that you were in safe hands and as a calling card for the full length album Revelry, I’ll be surprised if your credit card is still in your wallet by the time the song ends. Buy it now!