Roll With The Punches opens with its title track. With that delicious work on keys and saxophone in the song's opening moments, we are immediately thrust into some great rock and roll territory. And like any good rock and roll, there is a blues base here, heard in the song's first line "I lost my job because the business was slow." Soon he lets us know the job was causing him distress, and he sings, "So I packed up my things and said Adios/And jumped in the car and headed to the coast/You gotta roll with the punches." Leaving the blues behind. He makes it sound like a celebration. And shouldn't life be a celebration? After all, what are the odds that we'd be here at all? There is a wonderful lead on keys in the middle. This track also contains some good stuff on guitar. "I was always aware that life wasn't fair," Dave sings. Indeed. If there was a sense of fairness to this existence, Dolly Parton would still be alive, and that rapist occupying the White House would be rotting in a hole. "I live by the motto 'Buyer beware.'" Then Dave Rudolf takes us into more soulful territory with "Lend A Hand." This one too features some good work on keys, and also a heartfelt vocal performance right from its first lines, "There are those who are hungry/Far too many in need." The song is a positive and hopeful number about doing what we can. It contains some really good backing vocal work too, giving the song a gospel-like bent, and a good bass line. The guitar leads the way to a better world at the end.
Some really nice work on guitar helps to create an appealing rhythm at the beginning of "Unrequited." Check out these lyrics: "Lost in her visions of stories she's read/No one can live up to the hero in her head/Her impossible standards, the perfection she seeks/Have doomed her to failure, and her future is bleak." Then Dave Rudolf goes into reggae territory with "The King In His Castle," another track with a strong bass line. This one also features some delicious percussion. "For the king in his castle, in his marble hall/Is a small, little man who believes he is tall/Thinks he is smart, but he's a court fool." And with phrases like "throne of gold" and "they tell him he's strong," it's clear just who is the subject of this song. I especially love the drumming on this track. "I've been traveling down this lonesome road/Searching for someone," Dave sings at the beginning of "She's Somewhere," a pretty number. "I still have hope I will find that place/Where my love she waits patiently there." I was pretty far into my life before I finally met my love. This song is for all those who are still looking, still waiting, still hoping. It urges people to not be discouraged, to not quit looking. There is a really good vibe to this song. May each of us find that special someone.
A while ago, someone told me that whenever I'm in need of a laugh, all I had to do was conduct an online search for "Florida Man" and any randomly chosen date, and I'd be sure to read a ridiculous story. I've done it several times, and it has never failed. Dave Rudolf's song "Florida Man" seems to come from such stories, such headlines. "It might be their genes, might be the gin/It might be the heat that does those boys in," Dave sings. Maybe, but something is terribly wrong with that state and the people there. Nothing wrong with this song, however. It's a fun song, with a cool groove. "Bless his heart, he's doing the best he can." Ah, we all know what people really mean by "bless his heart." "Only in Florida logic don't stand/We build our castles out of rusty beer cans/We got bugs and hurricanes and swampy lowlands/It's a crazy stew that makes a Florida man." That's followed by "Forever Is Not Long Enough," a song that sounds like a romantic island vacation, with a nice bossa nova vibe, and features some excellent work on guitar. "The tide keeps time with love that grows/The world slows down just for a while."
Dave Rudolf gets funky with "Infectious," a fun number with a certain 1970s thing happening, along with a 1980s dance element. "Feeling the bass," he sings at one point, and, yes, the bass is present in our chests. The saxophone also plays a prominent part in this song's appeal. "We're left with no choice, we have to move our feet." Indeed. Ed Tossing plays keys on this one. That's followed by "You Make Things Better," Dave Rudolf changing gears again and moving more into country territory. Here are the first lines: "When the road gets rough, and the nights are long/And I'm weary of the trials and the things that go wrong/You lift me up with a simple smile/And my joy comes back to make it all seem worthwhile." Yes, exactly. That's all it takes, a smile from my girlfriend. This sweet country number contains some wonderful work on pedal steel, and it features a passionate vocal performance. This is one of my personal favorites. "You make things better for me/In these troubled times, when the world gets you down/We all need a helping hand."
"No One Should Feel This Way" is an older song, one that Dave recorded earlier and is revisiting here. This track has a heavier, more serious tone than many of the tracks. "When I wake up, it's hard to leave the bed," Dave sings here. I think many folks find it difficult to get out of bed these days. The bed holds more appeal than the world outside. "Where's the promise about American dream/If you work hard, you'll have wealth and esteem/That ship has sailed." Yes, that seems to be the case. We still hold onto hope, but working hard is not enough anymore. It just isn't. It's enough to squeak by, but not to thrive, not to get ahead. "It's not that I haven't tried, I work until my hands bleed/But down here in the deep, deep mud, we're all drowning in man's greed." Then "Simpler Times" has a pretty sound, in part thanks to the work on pedal steel. "Take me back to a simpler time," Dave sings. There is certainly something appealing in that idea. In this song, it is about returning to an earlier time in a relationship before their lives became complicated, but the line that especially stands out to me is this: "Before our dreams ran away and hid."
"The Devil Drives That Soul" is a cool song, with a dark thread running through it, with great lines like "The choir sings of mercy, but they choke on their refrain" and "And the saints are selling secrets while the rich have no regrets." Yeah, the song is of this time. And it contains a strong vocal performance. The song's rhythm helps us through, encourages us to dance into oblivion. "This world was born in chaos, and it runs on hidden fears." And there is no help coming from above. The track contains some good stuff on bass and on guitar, and is another of the disc's highlights. It's followed by "Not What I Had Planned," which has a much gentler approach. Here is a taste of the lyrics: "Sometimes the things that you have lost/Turn out to have too high a cost/And it takes a while to understand/It's better than you had planned." I do not believe that things happen for a reason, but sometimes things turn out better when they don't go the way you'd hoped or planned. "It might not be the world that you had hoped/But you must learn the best way to cope." The album concludes with "The Long Road To Your Heart," a song with a soulful sound, featuring nice touches on saxophone. There is an appealing 1960s vibe. I love that the final song contains the phrase "where the journey starts."
CD Track List
- Roll With The Punches
- Lend A Hand
- Unrequited
- The King In His Castle
- She's Somewhere
- Florida Man
- Forever Is Not Long Enough
- Infectious
- You Make Things Better
- No One Should Feel This Way
- Simpler Times
- The Devil Drives That Soul
- Not What I Had Planned
- The Long Road To Your Heart
Roll With The Punches was released on March 25, 2026.
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