Alabama Shakes

The bloggy bloggers needed a well deserved break from their Occupy Wall Street protests last week. Fortunately; the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Fest was in town. Like superman they were able to instantly morph from hippy to hipster with the help of some tight jeans, Ray Bans, and a Preferred Stock whore’s bath. I wasn’t able to make it because I have a job, but apparently 389 bands (at last count) were labeled “the next big thing.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love hype and I love blogs, but music fests like CMJ, SXSW, etc. cause music aficionados to ejaculate all over themselves. This results in too much hype in too little time, and because I get overwhelmed, I ignore 99% of the coverage. Opinions are like assholes and some people’s really stink. I prefer not to sort through a bunch of shit in hopes to find that one piece of golden corn. You follow????

Luckily for me this year, one band miraculously emerged from the cluster of smelly ass holes. Alabama Shakes kept popping up again and again on Hype Machine. So, I decided to check them out mainly because their name gave me the hilarious mental image of a toothless hick in overalls suffering from delirium tremens. (Ironically, this also happens to be one of my favorite beers.) Anyhoo, I visited their Bandcamp sight and streamed their 4 songs EP cleverly named: Alabama Shakes.

It is impossible to not be immediately struck by the voice of lead singer Brittany Howard. She belts these songs out with some punch; loud and soulful, yet, clear and non-distorted. She manages to encapsulate the sound of Marvin Gaye, Janis Joplin and Jack White all into one.

It’s not all Brittany though. This band kicks ass too. They are able to back up the soul by give you a polished R&B sound complete with vintage hollow body guitar tones. They hang on the back beats and can stop and start the songs up effortlessly. I FUCKING LOVE THIS BAND!

Watch Brittany give you her best Joe Cocker in this video. The Alabama Shakes leave you on your knees like a trembling alcoholic grasping for more. I’d give a million dollars to be in that crowd. Next time they come to Chicago….I’M THERE Y'ALLZ!