Rock ‘N’ Roll might be a young man’s game, but it is not stopping the Robinson Brothers from again coming together on Happiness Bastards (Silver Arrow Records) to prove they still have it. If Amorica was the last album you picked up by these guys, then things have changed dramatically. If you are one of their more avid followers then you have heard their transition away from merely being a Led Zeppelin/Rolling Stones hybrid, so this album makes perfect sense.
Over the past 30 years of cannabis advocacy, Chris Robinson‘s voice might not retain the piercing tenor quality. Smoking anything will do that to you. His voice does retain its soulfulness that gets the spotlight on “Cross Your Fingers”.
The Robinson Brothers still have bassist Sven Pipien on the payroll and that is enough of the original lineup to dial up enough authentic rock swagger. This might not be the fiery explosive energy that made them shake their money-makers, but there are plenty of upbeat grooves right from the opening track.
The guitars are produced in such a way that “Rats And Clowns” feels like they are turning the clock back to the early nineties. The brothers prove they can still groove meaningfully on songs like “Wanting And Waiting.”
The other staples of their sound are firmly in place as the first Southern rock ballad comes by way of “Wilted Rose”. This song finds Lainey Wilson lending her voice to the song without taking the spotlight from Chris. The song has room to breathe, allowing them to shift dynamics and engage in their forte of jamming things out.
“Dirty Cold Sun” is the kind of boogie you expect from the band. Takes fewer chances than some of their previous work and sticks to the blues-drenched formula they have been working off for decades.
The second half of the album sticks much closer to the barroom take on gospel. This rocked out a little more on “Flesh Wound” and also benefits from the flourishes of the piano. They get back to a more riff-driven strut for the more effective “Follow the Moon” which might be the band’s best song
They close the album with the Bob Dylan-like ballad “Kindred Heart”. This works well enough for what they do and finds them maturing into folky Americana, which seems like a logical place for these guys to find an extension of their audience.
If you are going to compare this to the band’s first three albums, then it might fall short, though that is an incredibly high bar, and they evolved as a band since then, almost to the point where the focus shifted to their live shows, taking the band in a more Allman Brothers like direction. However, when weighed against their status as Rock ‘N’ Roll veterans, this album shows that not only do they still have creative life left in them, but what they do is still relevant in 2024.
Buy the album here:
https://theblackcrowes.com/
7 / 10
WIL CIFER