Label: Self-Released Rating: 3.5 Guns
Buy On:
Written By: Victor J. Al fieri
Moving & Shaking - Imagine you’re driving down the highway. You’re young, you have a couple of your closest friends with you and not a care in the world. It’s hot, the top is down and you are all singing at the top of your lungs to the soundtrack of your summer. We’ve all had these moments. If we close our eyes right now, each one of us can picture that exact moment. Now when we hear those songs from our past, a smile breaks that stone façade no matter where you are in life.
For those lucky enough to stumble upon Movers & Shakers’ Larrabee, this will be their soundtrack. Roots rock with anthem like choruses, this album has all of the makings of the album someone will constantly refer back to in their lives.
Movers & Shakers consists of Matt Price (guitar, vocals, percussion), Graham Stetler (drums, harmonica, percussion), Marc Valois (guitar, vocals, organ, Wurlitzer) & Dan Wallace (bass, vocals, percussion). These four boys from Boston locked themselves in a cabin in Maine to record this album. They have been compared to bands like Drive By Truckers and Uncle Tupelo but I hear other influences in this album. Early Elvis Costello comes to mind at certain points. Tom Waits is brought right through on “Boom Splat.”
Over the past couple of days, I have listened to this album five, six…nine times. One word continues to come to mind…timeless. This album could have been recorded in the late sixties with the rock revolution or the late seventies or eighties with early punk and the introduction of MTV. Early Bruce Springsteen and even The Clash influences work their way in there as well.
This album is filled with nuggets of just flat out fun rock. The Evidence, The Proof, possibly the best song on the album, will have you out of your seat and shouting along to the chorus. Adventures in an Unrealistic Life is a bar tune with all of the frothy trimmings. Find a Reason has the early Elvis Costello catchiness. Take Me Home is the final track on the album and worth the wait. Another song that will play in your head for days, this one just screams Paul Westerberberg (No, not Friends theme song Paul. Think Singles soundtrack Paul).
Movers & Shakers seems to be a hidden gem up in the Northeast. If their live show is anything like this album is, the rest of us are missing out.
Like Movers & Shakers? You may also like Drive By Truckers, Wilco, Uncle Tupelo
