Review: Aaron Frazer – Introducing…

Aaron Frazer‘s debut album, Introducing, sounds like it’s played by cats who casually walk into a restaurant where they sometimes have jazz or soul bands play on Friday nights, but are playing on a rare Wednesday evening when they have the good chicken pot pie special, and then are so good that your pot pie becomes cold because you forget to eat it due to being wowed by them.

Introducing… is a sharp R&B / soul record, produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys no less, and Frazer’s first solo record. He’s one of The Indications, as in Durand Jones and The Indications, and is known for his falsetto voice, drum chops, and all-around love of soul, love songs, and grooves.

Opening track, “You Don’t Wanna Be My Baby,” with its horn section back-up and lead bass, let you know right away that you’re in for a treat. Frazer’s voice comes out of your speakers like warm maple syrup. “If I Got It (Your Love Brought It),” inspired by a Teamsters slogan, has a groove you can’t escape – nor do you want to do so.

Fuzzy guitars join the party on “Can’t Leave It Alone” as Frazer delivers a verbal smackdown on his lover for treating him bad, yet he knows he can’t walk away from a hot thing. “Bad News” would make Marvin Gaye proud with its bad-ass 1970s groove, jazz flute, and Frazer’s assured vocals that sound so natural that you think he could just roll out of bed and put down a track like it anytime he wants.

Frazer’s gospel influences are evident on “Have Mercy” – in the title, the backing voices, and Frazer’s pleading to a lover to go easy on him because he’s fallen so hard he might shatter. He’s “Done Lyin'” on the next track, however. The groove on this cut is so good that you’re moving and swaying like you’re one of his backup singers within seconds.

“Lover Girl” is classic soul that sounds like it was found in a Detroit basement near the Motown Studios’ original property. Frazer encourages his lover to take a love journey on “Ride with Me.” He just wants to her take the leap of faith and head off into a groovy sunset with him. Who doesn’t want that?

Big and bold piano and horns start “Girl on the Phone,” then the piano turns downright funky as Frazer sings, “Wish I had someone to love me like this girl I just heard on the phone.” It’s a tale of him overhearing a conversation on a party line (Remember those?) and falling for her just from the sound of the voice, and being envious of the lover to whom she was speaking. Frazer tries to answer a question people have been asking since, well, there have been people on “Love Is.” It’s “what you make it,” according to Frazer, or “anything you make it.” I know I’m in love with the bass groove on the track because it could seduce the coldest of hearts.

The drums on “Over You” (the album’s first single) are as hot as popping popcorn and Frazer’s vocals bounce off the back of the club wall and practically shove you out of your chair to the dance floor. The album ends with “Leanin’ on Your Everlasting Love,” with Frazer and his band laughing as the song begins and sweet organ chords taking us by the hand for another gospel-inspired love song. It’s a lovely send-off.

And it’s a lovely record that I’m sure will be high on my “Best of 2021” list. There isn’t a bad track on it, and Frazer knocks his debut out of the park.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: The Black Keys – Magic Potion (2006)

Every now and then (okay, more than that), an album slips through the cracks and years go by before I pick it up and wonder, “What took me so long?” Such an album is Magic Potion by the Black Keys (Dan Auerbach – guitar and vocals, Patrick Carney -drums). I’m a big fan of their work (especially the first half of their discography), and Magic Potion has been on my “must buy” list for a long time.

The opening chords of “Just Got to Be” exemplify what I love about the band – chugging guitar, rock drumming that borders on being sloppy, and sweaty blues-style vocals. “Your Touch” is one of their biggest hits thanks to its slick groove and sexy subject matter. “You’re the One” is a bit psychedelic as Auerbach sings a sweet song about his mother teaching him about love and how he later carried those lessons to his girlfriend.

“Just a Little Heat” reveals the band’s love for Led Zeppelin, who also loved the blues. Just listen to the opening licks and tell me they don’t remind you of Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker.” “Give Your Heart Away” is a great “So long, baby” type of blues song about Auerbach walking away from a woman who treated him like a doormat. “Strange Desire” again brings in some psychedelic guitar work before it becomes a catchy song about dangerous love. “I don’t wanna go to hell, but if I do it’ll be because of you,” Auerbach sings, pulling no punches in the process. “Modern Times” only amplifies the dirty, floor-stomping feel of the record.

“The Flame” has some of Auerbach’s best guitar work on the record as it moves from blues to psych-rock to some Marc Bolan-like riffs. “The times are changin’, and the people need rearrangin’,” Auerbach sings on “Goodbye Babylon” in a sweaty, loud ode to the world of 2006. “Black Door” could be the follow-up to the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” with Auerbach and Carney painting all of Keith Richards and Charlie Watts’ red doors, as Auerbach unleashes a ton of skronky, reverbed guitar that Richards would enjoy and Carney puts down a wicked beat behind him that Watts would love. The album ends with “Elevator,” a song that has Auerbach getting freaky with several different women in one building. The guitar goes from smooth groove in the verses to wall-flattening in the choruses. It must be deafening live.

Don’t wait a long time to pick up this record. It’s solid from beginning to end. This Magic Potion is probably just what you need right now.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin artist spotlight: The Arcs

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The Arcs are the psychedelic, two drummer-having side project of The Black Keys‘ Dan Auerbach.  Their new album, Yours, Dreamily, will be freshly out by the time Levitation Austin gets here, so I’ll be hearing the material on April 29th while it’s still fresh and unknown to most.  I like what I’ve heard so far and I’m happy that Auerbach is taking his blues guitar into the land of psychedelia.

Keep your mind open.

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