{"id":1396272,"date":"2018-10-17T13:06:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T17:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/?p=1396272"},"modified":"2018-10-17T13:06:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T17:06:43","slug":"red-sammy-neon-motel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2018\/10\/17\/red-sammy-neon-motel\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sammy: ‘Neon Motel’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It\u2019s remarkable, really. Each year, it seems like Baltimore\u2019s Red Sammy has a new album, a new direction, a new project, a new life. If it\u2019s not a Tom Waits-leaning, jangly set of swamp rock, it\u2019s a dip into calmer waters, embracing some Trespassers and offering up an acoustic collection that doesn\u2019t not fall under an Americana umbrella. From resonator guitars to mandolins; from gruff male vocals to pretty female-driven harmonies, if there\u2019s one thing you can call Red Sammy at this point, \u201cprolific\u201d would be the most apt word.<\/p>\n

The credit for that goes to Adam Trice, of course \u2014 the brainchild behind the operation. Whatever he bills the project as doesn\u2019t matter; he\u2019s the one always leading the way, always gathering the artists, always captaining the ship. And while the incarnations consistently vary in style and vision, you can always count on his blend of underbelly melancholy to darken your day in interesting ways. \u201cNeon Motel,\u201d his most recent set, is no different.<\/p>\n

A contrast to his previous outing, 2016\u2019s paired down \u201cTrue Believer,\u201d which featured a group he dubbed Some Charming Trespassers, these 11 tracks find Trice returning to his rock-and-roll ways, plugged in, turned up and ready to stomp forward, be it through the vice of anger or sadness. It\u2019s a logical, respectable decision that suggests the singer succeeds with evolution. He\u2019s not rewriting his own rulebook, per se, but he\u2019s making sure the ties binding the pages together are tighter than they\u2019ve been before.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no better example of that than opener \u201cErnie The Lizard.\u201d Paying homage to the great British rock of the 1960s, it\u2019s deliciously straight-forward, drums pounding as Trice\u2019s vocals feel strained in ways previously not heard. \u201cHey mama, wanna cut my hair\/When I get wasted, you want me to get bent\/so you wanna burn the clothes I wear\/searching for the degenerate in the basement,\u201d the singer offers as a chorus and while it might not look that impressive on paper, rest assured it comes across as the most defiant slacker anthem this side of the Patapsco.<\/p>\n

The thing is, laziness can fit him just as well, too. While balladry has been a stumbling block for Red Sammy in the past, here, Trice\u2019s group takes a significant step forward with a song like the title track. Featuring a lead guitar scientifically proven to cement itself in your brain after a minimum of five listens, it paints pictures more vividly than any of his previous attempts. Throw in some tastefully exceptional noodling that backdrops the chorus and you have a rarity in the Adam Trice lexicon: A legitimate pop single.<\/p>\n

So, where does he slip? For the most part, it\u2019s throughout the middle section. While the songs here are respectfully short, they don\u2019t always further the growth of the artist. \u201cTired And Free,\u201d while accessible, is a little too schmaltzy for its own good. Yeah, he might gain a Coldplay fan because of it, but for every one of those, he\u2019ll lose five of the diehards who love him for his grit. \u201cYou That I Refuse,\u201d meanwhile, is a good idea, but as has occasionally been the case previously, it lacks the energy and passion that could make it transcendent. Ryan Bowen\u2019s drums refuse to feel confident and with such a biting idea lyrically, you would hope for more fire from Trice.<\/p>\n