(2023) The Runaway Grooms - This Road    


Review:
The Runaway Grooms is a band that resides in Colorado, but has its beginnings in Massachusetts. Amon Tobin and Justin Bissett grew up across the street from each other in Northborough, Massachusetts. Of the longtime musical partnership, Tobin said, “We both grew up liking the Dead, and have always enjoyed experimenting with music in ways that are unconventional.” You don’t have to hear a lot of the band to know that experimentation is still a big part of the band’s ethos. On their 2020 album Tied to the Sun, rootsy rock songs prominently feature mandolin and harmonica. You’ll also hear songs that sound heavily influenced by jam bands like Phish. The band has added Zac Cialek (lap steel),  Cody Scott (keyboards), and Zachary Gilliam (bass) and continues to expand its sound on the new EP This Road. “All five of us come from different musical backgrounds, and we all write together. This adds to the depth and variety of our sound.” He’s not wrong. The new EP might only be five songs, but the band uses those songs to cover a good amount of ground. You don’t really need to go beyond the opening track “Jenny” to realize that the band is pretty comfortable with musical experimentation. It begins with a piano intro that bleeds in to some psychedelic guitar sounds. It is a pretty mellow tune that is sure to delight fans of jam bands. It builds to a ripping instrumental that might bring some classic psychedelic bands like Cream to mind. And that’s just the beginning of a musical journey that weaves not only psychedelia but also funk just listen to the bass in “Mr. Ford”) and some song structures that seem as unpredictable and offbeat as Frank Zappa’s. Meanwhile, “Here I Come Again” is a groovy organ-driven tune that will make you want to kick off your Birkenstocks and boogie like you’re at your favorite festival. And at more than seven and a half minutes, it gives you plenty of opportunity to boogie. The EP closes with “Heartwork,” a song that encourages self-examination. The melody is twangy and the notes are given plenty of room to breathe. It’s really the perfect tempo and mood for a song that delivers a positive message. All of the lyrics carry some weight, but you especially feel it when you hear, “In the end, it’s only you who’s got to want to make a change.” It’s a musical pep talk that we could all use at times. This Road by The Runaway Grooms is only five songs, but those five songs deliver two important things to the listener. First, it shows the listener just how much this band can accomplish sonically in a limited amount of time. The other thing this album accomplishes is to leave the listener wanting more of the musical meanderings this band provides. It may not be easy to classify The Runaway Grooms, but it is easy to like them. — glidemagazine.com


   


Track List:
01 - Jenny
02 - Mister Ford
03 - Here I Come Again
04 - This Road
05 - Heartwork


Media Report:
Genre: psychedelic rock
Country: Vail, Colorado, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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