The Deal: Jim “Reverend Horton” Heath finds a new groove with the help of Tim Alexander on Hammond organ and Todd Soesbe on drums.
The Good: Combine the Reverend, and organ and drums and the name is quite simple. So is the music, but not necessarily in a bad way. The groovy trio put their own spin on a number of blues, swing, standards and theme songs. It’s a different side of Heath, the down-and-dirty front man of Reverend Horton Heat. This time around, he’s the seasoned veteran who’s out to have fun and enjoy the tunes he’s playing – while showing hints of his skillful guitar licks from time to time. For the most part, the album is intsrumental, but Heath does get to sing a couple of times – “Bim Bam Baby,” “Ain’t That A Kick in the Head.” “James Bond Theme” is always fun to hear and the band has moments where they really let it fly – “Time is Tight.”
The Bad: It’s heavy on instrumentals, which made me long to hear more of the Rev. Horton Heat. Is that a bad thing? I waited for vocals to kick in on “I Got a Woman,” but they never appeared. Nothing but covers, too. I’d rather hear originals – hopefully the band/side project will stick around long enough to write and record some.
The Verdict: A fun album and side project that fits right in with the rest of Heath’s work.
This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2008.
