Vintage Trouble - The Bomb Shelter Sessions (Album)
LA four-piece Vintage Trouble, comprised of Ty Taylor (Vocals) Nalle Colt (Guitars, Backing Vocals) Rick Barrio Dill (Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Richard Danielson (Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals) are a soul inspired rock band that formed on the Venice Beach esplanade in 2010. In a short time between then and now they have gone from simple back room recording set up, to being one of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter, after a mesmerising live performance of the track Blues Hand Me Down on the BBC's Later... with Jools Holland that invoked the spirit of soul legends like James Brown and Otis Redding.
Hot off the back of this viral press, Vintage Trouble have just released their debut LP The Bomb Shelter Sessions, an album captured with 50's era recording techniques, and with the ethos of aiming to produce a sound reminiscient of the good ol' days of vinyl records, juke joints and the essence of the original soul movement.
The Bomb Shelter Sessions is a smooth, well rounded, polished affair, and a tip of the hat has to go to Taylor and rest of the Trouble for what they are setting out to achieve, along with other like-minded acts Fitz & The Tantrums and The Heavy; is to invoke the raw high energy sounds of yesteryear into modern music.
Vintage Trouble are masters at Quantum Leap-ing through genres and eras on The Bomb Shelter Sessions. For example, Nancy Lee, a song inspired by the old fashioned romance of Taylors parents, being the appropriate soundtrack to slip on your blue suede shoes to before heading out to have a boogie at the Malt Shoppe. Not Alright By Me is a stripped back ballad, one that embodies the singer-songwriter civil rights activism of the 60's. Jezzebella steps forward a decade into funk rock territory of George CLinton's 70's, and sitting inbetween is the heart wrenching blues of Nobody Told Me, a beautiful yet bittersweet Motown moment. Though the signature track, mentioned above, Blues Hand Me Down, is the real jewel in the vintage crown here, as it embodies all that Vintage Trouble are, that being a raw, R&B thunderstorm, where the sprawling guitarwork of Colt and Dill, and powerful percussion of Danielson underscore the raucous vocals of Taylor.
Now there has been some dissent on the album amongst music critics, most attest that it is "too, clean, precise and controlled" when you stack it up against their live performance, but to me, this is hardly a detriment to their ability, and the album itself; for Vintage Trouble have succeeded in making one very slick, enjoyable LP, and to know that it only gets better live, well that's just icing on the cake.
