St. Paul & The Broken Bones

It's impossible to write about St. Paul & The Broken Bones without talking about their live performances, even in this.....a review for a studio album. 

If you haven't seen the band live then you can't help but imagine what it'd be like to see the band perform in person because the energy jumps out of the speakers.

If you've had the pleasure of seeing the band live then just the sound of Paul Janeway's voice has some sort of Pavlovian effect on you. You start sweating, dropping to one knee and pleading with whatever deity you prescribe to to give you the strength.

Strength for what? 

The strength for whatever Janeway is singing about on ANY particular track. You don't literally share his emotions, but you sure as fuck think you do. He not only brings the emotion to life live, which is why I coined him the hardest working man in a bow tie, BUT he and the band also find a way to bring emotion to life in recorded format. They're a fucking double headed monster.

Sea Of Noise is the new album from St. Paul & The Broken Bones, and just as I expected it is Mowtown era R&B dripping with Soul Glo. The horns section is big and tight. Janeway, a slightly chubby and former tax accountant, belts out lyrics like Al Green. And that warm rolling organ gets me damp down where the ballactites hang. 

And although I wrote a lot about front man Paul Janeway above, the more I listen Sea Of Noise I can't help but love the rest of the band more and more because their tightness hugs your nuts like a Speedo 3 sizes too small. 

I've easily determined that 'Sanctify' is my favorite song on the album and is a perfect example of how fucking great the band is because the charismatic and powerful Paul Janeway is an after thought on this track. AND THAT IS NO EASY FEAT. AND no disrespect to Paul, but it's everything else that gives me the goosies on this particular song: the disjointed funk line in the verse, the melody of the horns in the chorus, the guitar and organ in the bridge, and then when everything comes together in the build up back to the chorus? WOOOOoooooooo. I need to catch my breath! Somebody get me a paper bag to breathe into and point a box fan at my junk. 

Go grab this album. Go see the band live. St. Paul & The Broken Bones is one of those bands you can use to refute all the asshole baby boomers who think their generation has a monopoly on all the great music. Sure it's a throwback to the 60s and 70s, but it is fresh and relevant as fuck because emotion in art transcends generations. No time period has ownership on unadulterated and genuine soul. Hook this shit up to yourself like an IV and let your eyes roll back into your skull.