2015 –Slackjaw
By Phillip Smith; Aug. 1, 2015
It’s Always Something, the second album from New Jersey blues rockers Slackjaw, rapidly grabbed my attention with its tight musicianship and devil-may-care
lyrics. This trio consists of singer/guitarist
John Thompson, drummer/harmonicist Randy Marinelli, and bassist/backing
vocalist Carl Capodice.
Album opener “Carried By Six”
is smothered in Texas blues and sounds great.
Not only is Thompson one hell
of a guitar slinger, but Capodice
and Marinelli hold the fort down
quite nicely to boot. When it comes to
relationships, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. That’s the message in the rocking title
track, “It’s Always Something”. Thompson seriously tears it up, and
throws down the gauntlet when it comes to blasting out intense guitar licks. A
funky bluesy rhythm with a Spin Doctors flair
gives the light-hearted love song, “New Addiction” a feel-good groovy sound. This one surely puts me in my happy place. Tempo
shifts, and more outstanding hard-driving riffs, make the melodic “Whiskey Lane”
one of my favorites.
Slackjaw
closes out with the carousing song, “Bottle of Whiskey”. This partying track is the perfect closer, and
gets stuck inside my head quite often now.
All in all, It’s Always Something
is a rambunctiously good listen.
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