Cameron’s songwriting skills, mixing up elements of roots, soul and classic pop to flesh out his stories of life, love and the complicated world we live in.
The poetic study of irony over a blues shuffle “The Wrong Thing,” opens the album with Cameron exploring the human condition and our tendency to be our own worst enemy. The swinging “Too Hot To Boogie,” follows with greasy slide guitar and blues harp painting the picture of a steamy juke joint affair. The title track explores the depths of a well-worn relationship that has fallen into drudgery with Sheri’s haunting flute adding to the atmosphere. The band lays down an easy groove while Cameron narrates four tales of habitual insobriety and its consequences for “Drink On The Job.” Soaring backup vocals and horns sweeten the Stax soul-styled love song aptly named “Sugar.”
The rowdy rock ‘n’ roll number “Can’t Stand Still,” celebrates the salacious energy of youth. Cameron offers sage advice to a friend on the edgy “Change Your Ways,” and the swinging “Friends Like These,” proves the point that close associates can prove to be more challenging than opponents. The sultry R&B “Ain’t No Way,” plays out the drama of a complicated romance. The band puts it all together to celebrate hard luck and trouble for the shifty blues closer “Below The Bottom,” capping off a fine collection of thinking man’s blues. Rick J Bowen
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TRACK NOTES
1.
The Wrong Thing: A high-powered blues shuffle
that has been kicked into overdrive by the stinging electric delta slide guitar
of Mark Cameron. The harmonica of Bill Keyes also adds to the
shoulder-shrugging irony of a person, who has good intentions, but terrible
timing.
2.
Too Hot To Boogie: A nostalgic romp complete
with Gene Krupa style drum work from Dan Schroeder and another dose of
high-powered slide guitar. The old-school hot rod is a metaphor for a
relationship that can’t get out of first gear due to the summer heat. Your
radiator is gonna boil over with this one, so watch out. Live crowd vocals were
recorded at a recent Mark Cameron Band concert and dubbed into the track so the
listener can experience what happens every time this is performed live.
3.
Blues Factory: A familiar story in a new and
haunting way: a love affair starts out “wild and free” only to fall into a
factory-like routine as time moves on. A unique mix of Sheri Cameron’s flute,
resonator slide guitar and industrial percussion sounds bring you into the
walls of the factory where what’s really being built by the people inside is
not what they think they are building at all. They walk in together but leave
separately after they add all the parts to their relationship that add up to “quittin’
time.”
4.
Drink On The Job: This song brings a full
helping of the wry wit that is a trademark of Mark Cameron’s songwriting. When
“what’s in your thermos, ain’t exactly coffee” one can imagine what happens
next. The composition features intricate interplay between harp, sax and guitar
that perfectly describes the chaos that results when business and pleasure get
thrown together in the same shot glass.
1.
Sugar: A sweet journey into Memphis style soul
that is fitting for “Sugar.” It starts as a celebration of finding something
(or someone) you love and slowly builds until the celebration borders on a
full-blown obsession. The slow burn of “Sugar” is pushed along with B3 organ,
piano and a full Stax-style horn section to compliment the rest of the band.
Can’t Stand Still: This is a boogie that tells the tale of a girl who really loves to dance. It rips along with a barrelhouse blues vibe as it follows a girl from her early days right up to the present time. The harmonica work in this song is sure to leave you breathless. Just like the girl who “Can’t Stand Still.”
7.
Change Your Ways: This is slow blues stripped
down to its most elemental form. Mark Cameron delivers a soulful and melodic
guitar passage that evokes Robben Ford or Eric Johnson. The bass guitar of
Steve Hansen is massive and stripped to the core. This is a cautionary tale
about a person whose words don’t match their deeds, and how Karma can’t be far
behind.
8.
Friends Like These: The joyous interplay between
harp and guitar on this track reinforce the humor of the situation. The Chorus
says it all: “With Friends Like These, who needs enemies”?
9.
Ain’t No Way: This is a soulful tale of two
people who don’t believe they deserve each other. Flute and guitar represent
the points of view of a man and a woman who end up together even though they
see themselves as very different from each other. The hypnotic groove supplied
by Dan Schroder and Steve Hansen on this track will get under your skin and
into your soul.
10. Below The Bottom: They say you have to “hit bottom” before you can come back up. But what if the bottom is lower than you thought? This song explores that notion with a greasy blues groove and an instrumental that takes a few unexpected twists and turns along the way
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