Modern music’s focus on vocal performances isn’t a recent development. For nearly a decade, instrumentation and prowess has taken a back seat to front men and women with unique singing talent. The four-piece rock band Alabama Shakes fits well into that category.
Alabama Shakes’ debut album “Boys & Girls” introduced singer Brittany Howard and her incredible ability to crush the barriers between low and high octaves. People instantly latched to the soaring belts and wails on the breakout single “Hold On” and the group's decent attempt to revitalize the classic southern rock and soul sound.
While Howard's voice is still exciting, the band’s musicianship couldn’t match her gusto and many tracks felt a tad contrived and soulless. Regardless, “Boys & Girls” garnered massive success and legions of fans fell in love for Howard and her band of roots rock revivalists.
Enter the band’s sophomore record “Sound & Color,” an album that could’ve rehashed the group's in-demand sound and been an easy runaway cash grab. Instead, we get a band clearly trying to construct from its debut’s criticism and experiment with its sound.
The opener and title track sets the tone for the album. A serene vibraphone-led introduction had me checking to make sure I hadn’t pressed play on a Stan Getz album. When the drums and vocals kick in, the standard Alabama Shakes soul-mama tropes take hold — boring.
Then, a funny thing happens. Strings begin an off key ebb and flow and mix with Howard’s falsetto into a delicate insanity that’s borderline uncomfortable to listen to. It’s a bizarre, yet brilliant opening statement that etches the band’s attempt to expand.
Much of “Sound & Color” follows suit with strange compositions entirely unexpected from a group like Alabama Shakes. “Guess Who” for example, is a low-fi reggae track reminiscent of The Congos’ legendary record, “Heart of the Congos.” There’s even a proto-punk style whirlwind of crescendo and fury lodged midway through the record in “The Greatest.”
Granted none of these sounds are entirely original, but they're new to Alabama Shakes. However, they’ve been done before — and better. A recurring issue throughout the record is the lack of outward performances from the band behind Howard. A lot of the songs could do with a shake-up from dynamic solos and less monotonous rhythms.
“Shoegaze” is a fine track — there’s nothing really wrong with it — but it also sort of just meanders and fades away. Howard sounds phenomenal as usual, but the lack of any sort of personality from her counterparts keeps the song from broadening.
“Miss You,” although deliberate in its emulation of retro-blues, had potential to flatten listeners but fails to do so because of the same run-of-the-mill guitar and drum work.
But for every missed opportunity on “Sound & Color," there’s a thrilling and unusual piece that quickly become the record’s saving grace.
“Don’t Wanna Fight” lathers the funk on thick and is immediately danceable. Follow-up track “Dunes” begins sparsely with a gorgeous vocal melody, but lifts into a power-chord meltdown that reminds me of the ending to The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.”
“Gimme All Your Love” is the easy winner for best track on the album. Although Howard is completely unabashed, explosive and spine-tinglingly potent, it’s here the rest of the band shows its capacity to follow step and strengthen the song’s backbone.
Still though, in the hands of better musicians, “Gimme All Your Love” could have existed on an entirely different plane of stalwart energy. Instead we're left wondering about what could have been.
Regardless, Alabama Shakes is surrounded with the kind of hype that puts Howard and her band in a position to help put guitar-based music back in the mainstream. “Sound & Color” is a mostly excellent attempt to bolster and develop the band’s sound. It’s a peculiar and adventurous statement that sets the stage for a group that clearly wants to innovate into long-term relevancy.
Reach the reporter at nlatona@asu.edu or follow @Bigtonemeaty on Twitter.
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