September 28, 2008

Eli "Paperboy" Reed - Roll With You (2008)

Unlike the artists off Daptone Records, Eli "Paperboy" Reed sings straight up 60's, pre-funk soul. The backing band is solid - I love the horn section - but its the vocals that make it worth your time. He has a nice gritty voice - emotive and passionate enough to recall heyday STAX or Atlantic Records. It's clear he's done his homework. The music successfully captures that authentic/retro sound and the songs are consistently good to great. The lyrics keep it simple, focused on love, relationships, boasts, and dances. "Stake Your Claim" kicks off the album with plenty of Solomon Burke-like attitude and well-timed horn bursts. "I'm Gonna Getcha" reminds me a bit of Joe Tex's preacher style rap. On "(Doin' The) Boom Boom" he let's out his best Wilson Pickett scream. If you dig the retro soul sound, you have to check out this album.

1 Comments:

sandenuts said...

Wow, this album absolutely kills it! Perfect Joe Tex reference.