Dirty Streets – Who’s Gonna Love You
Kicking off with a nod to vintage bands like Foghat, Black Oak Arkansas, Wet Willie, the James Gang & pinch of Humble Pie this rollicking ass-kicking Memphis-based retro-tinged unit at least knows how to light a musical fire.
This is their 7th studio album produced by Grammy Award winner Matt Ross-Spang (John Prine) & they do effectively add a nice soulful swipe as they perform. The title track has all the ingredients of a hit for the late 60s-early 70s, but it applies with thrust today. It’s that good. It has substance despite its retro roots. A driving guitar riff & an excellent rock vocal by Austin-bred guitarist Justin Toland. The band itself is just a trio – joined by Memphis-native Thomas Storz (bass) & Shreveport drummer Andrew Denham. The group gets a lot of musical mileage from a slim musician presence. Sometimes less is more.
The 11-cut Who’s Gonna Love You (Drops Sept 30–Blue Elan Records) even gets away from the Southern rock inflections long enough to drop a slinky bar-room blues in “Poison.” Produced at Sam Phillips Recording by Matt Ross-Spang all songs were written by Dirty Streets.
The band is known to dip into Motown, Stax, bluesy Southern rock & mix generously into their Memphis groove. “Blended,” has that 70s rollicking edge that once was projected by some obscure 1972 bands like Iguana. As obscure as that was, many still remember some of their forays via college & FM radio. Maybe that style is better suited now.
The songs are basically simple but it’s how they’re weaved together & arranged, performed with an atmosphere delivery that brings out the wonderful edgy flavor of each.
A better typeface could have been chosen for the CD artwork. The Michael Kartaltepe photography is attractive & the handsomely produced by Muhr Design for this die-cut CD package with lyric insert is otherwise good.
If your hungry ears are in need of little nostalgia-infused music with your old scuffed Dingoes, Fresca soda, Skoal chewing tobacco can & blue Challenger revving its engine with this recent effort to blow that balloon up again – this is a satisfying set of southern-fried soul-rock & that takes itself seriously & is.
Highlights – “Not That Man,” “Get Out,” (CCR style), “Ghost,” & “Bitter End.”
Photo by Destiny Freeman. CD @ https://www.dirtystreetsmusic.com/ + https://blueelan.com/products/dirty-streets-whos-gonna-love-you-cd