This album begins in the
blues, with a cover of Big Maceo Merriweather’s “Worried Life Blues.” Brad
Vickers And His Vestapolitans pick up the pace a bit to make it more of a tune to dance to. The band jams on this track, treating us to some great stuff on
both guitar and saxophone during the first instrumental section. And then the
piano rocks and moves so well in that other instrumental section toward the
end, followed by some more totally enjoyable work on guitar. This is a sound
that always works for me, a sound that seems to say that life is good. That’s
followed by “Mississippi Swamp,” an original number, written by Brad Vickers.
It is seriously fun, with a rhythm that shakes and moves. As the
title promises, there is a good deal of a swamp sound to this one, but it’s
swamp with a delightful pace, something you can dance to. This track features
some cool stuff by Mikey Junior on harmonica. All of that is great, but it is
that steady rhythm that really drives this track and makes me totally dig it.
“Love Can Win” is another
original number, this one written by Margey Peters. It’s a song with a positive
message, one I need to hear often these days. We all do, right? “I’ve got something important to say/It gets
more urgent every day/Love can win.” Indeed, it is getting more urgent
every day, as this nation has become so divided that it seems any common ground
has been lost. “Patience, understanding,
compassion, respect/We’re all in this together, last I checked/Love can win,
love can win.” I need to remind myself that, because it is so damn easy to
hate those who support Donald Trump, and often it feels that they deserve
nothing but our contempt. But that does nothing good for us, and isn’t going to
help. Can they still be reached? Of course, a good message is one thing, but
the music has to move you too, and it certainly does here. The track has a
pleasant, fairly easygoing groove, and there is some enjoyable stuff on organ. At
the end, the line is changed to “Love will
win.” Well, all right, I appreciate that optimism. We then return to some
classic blues, but with lyrics that work well following “Love Can Win.” Jimmy Reed’s “Close Together,” here with a
slightly slower pace, features these lines: “You
know this old world of toil and sin/One little person just can't win/Take the
two of us going side by side/Trying to keep each other from being taken for a
ride/We gotta stay close together.” I really love what these guys do with
this song. I feel transported to an earlier time. Or have they transported that
time to us here? Either way, everything is working so well. Check out that sax
at the end.
With “Coast To Coast,”
this band delivers a good dose of rock and roll. The song’s first lines are “I’d love to see/The land of the free.”
Oh yes, and now is the time, before it’s all gone. This is an original song,
written by Margey Peters, and is about hitting the road. It is one I’ll be
adding to my road trip play list. “The
back roads are better because there’s so much more to see.” And, yes, it
names several cities (as many of these driving songs do): “Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, St. Lou/We’ll have so much fun that we
won’t know what to do.” Ah yes, all good road trips start in Boston. For
me, the guitar is the center of this track. I love that section where it takes
a delicious lead, the horns adding these delightful touches. The jam then
continues with the keys taking over. That’s followed by another original number
by Margey Peters, “Twice As Nice,” the album’s title track. This is one of my favorite
tracks. It sounds like a glorious ol’ dirty number, with Margey singing “Well, they say a life of virtue/Is the only
way to win/You can keep your life of virtue/I prefer a life of sin.” Well,
all right then! It’s a fun number, to be sure, and I particularly love the
clarinet. A song about gender equality, in which we all get to have a good
time! “What’s good for you is twice as
nice for me.”
“Red Dust” is an original
song that feels poised to strike from its start. It has a steady rhythm that
seems to forebode danger, with some great bluesy touches on guitar over it. “Not being white was the only crime/Hate was
never sentenced to do the time/What’re you going to do about it?/Don’t you want
to talk about it?” Yeah, this one has something to say, and it gets you in
its grasp before saying it. This one was written by Brad Vickers. That’s
followed by “Everything I Need,” written by Margey Peters. The line that stood
out for me the first time I listened to this track was “It’s hard to believe the condition the world is in.” Indeed. Brad
Vickers And His Vestapolitans then give us a rendition of “Stealin’ Stealin’”
that is a whole lot of fun. This is a song I first heard on an early recording
by the Grateful Dead, and is one I’ve always enjoyed. Margey Peters sings lead,
and adds some playful touches. For example, listen to the way she delivers the
line “He’s a married man, he comes to see
me sometimes.” Mikey Junior plays harmonica and provides some backing
vocals on this one. That’s followed by another fun number, a cover of “Look A
There Look A There,” which features more nice stuff on harmonica by Mikey
Junior. The lead on guitar has a great classic and loose vibe. The disc
concludes with “Brooklyn Evenings,” a song written by Margey Peters. This track
has a relaxed, easygoing vibe, and includes some wonderful work by Charlie
Burnham on violin. “I’ve been
thinking/Been remembering/Recollecting on the times gone by/Things were
different, maybe better.”
CD Track List
- Worried Life Blues
- Mississippi Swamp
- Love Can Win
- Close Together
- Coast To Coast
- Twice As Nice
- Red Dust
- Everything I Need
- Stealin’ Stealin’
- Look A There Look A There
- Brooklyn Evenings
Twice As Nice was released on October 1, 2019.
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