2024 – Maverick Ranch
Release Date : June 17, 2024
By Phillip Smith; June 8, 2024
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
Almost nine years have passed
since Jennifer Westwood and the Handsome Devils released Greetings
From This Town. I listened to that record heavily for a very long time. Mad
Man’s World, their latest album is a fantastic ten-track recording.
It was very much worth the wait. I absolutely love Westwood’s voice. It
sounds magnificent as she pours it over an amalgam of Detroit Soul, Muscle
Shoals, and American Roots music. With Westwood fronting the band on
vocals, the Handsome Devils are comprised of Westwood’s husband Dylan
Dunbar on guitar, bassist Chuck Bartels, drummers Ron Pangburn
and David Below, percussionist Brandon Husken, keyboardist Lucky
Haskins, horn players Joshua James and Jimmy Smith, and
backing vocalists Susan Marshall and Reba Russell.
Mad Man’s World opens up in a vibrant Latin western-scape “Viva Terlingua”. This homage to Jerry Jeff Walker has all the brilliance of an Ennio Morricone spaghetti western score. Title-track “Mad Man’s World” follows up in a bluesy Dap-Kings fashion topped with horns and swirling keys, as Westwood calls out the systematic misogyny which has plagued the world since the beginning of time. My ears perk up even more when Dunbar serves up a Clapton-esque guitar solo. He then pulls me tightly in to “Bulletproof” with his lingering, blues-soaked licks. From a delicate and vulnerable beginning, the song emerges as an anthem to overcoming one’s obstacles. I was gob-smacked when I heard their cover of The Parliaments’ 1967 hit “(I Wanna) Testify”. Written by George Clinton, this track is kept funky and fueled with Sixties soul. The infectious melody of “Bad Luck Charm” beckons me in to a melancholy masterpiece about bad luck and heartache. “How am I Supposed to Live This Way” brings the album to its close with a driving rhythm and cornucopia of sound. It truly is a grand finale.
Jennifer Westwood and the Handsome Devils’ Mad Man’s World is undeniably great from beginning to end. It’s one of my favorite albums I have heard this year.
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For more information about Jennifer
Westwood, visit the website at https://www.jenniferwestwood.com
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more PhillyCheeze reviews featuring Jennifer Westwood:
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