{"id":312,"date":"2016-03-21T19:48:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T19:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.7thlevelmusic.com\/?p=312"},"modified":"2016-03-21T19:48:21","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T19:48:21","slug":"night-beats-who-sold-my-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.7thlevelmusic.com\/?p=312","title":{"rendered":"Night Beats – Who Sold My Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"night-beats-who-sold-my-generation\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is fitting, crucial in fact, that the name of the newest Night Beats<\/a><\/strong> record isn\u2019t Who Sold My Generation?<\/em> It\u2019s Who Sold My Generation<\/em>. No question mark. Night Beats (Robert Levon Breen<\/strong> – bass and backing vocals, Danny Lee Blackwell <\/strong>– guitar, vocals, piano, percussion, bass, James Traeger<\/strong> – drums) aren\u2019t asking who sold their generation to career politicians, multinational banks, and corporations. They already know. It was sold by \u201cspitting news anchors,\u201d people selling toxic junk as food and drink, those in power who let that power corrupt them, and, mostly, damningly, their generation for allowing it to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cCelebration #1\u201d is a spoken word manifesto over a freak-out beat, blues bass walk, and dark alley guitar. \u201cWhen they come into your down, the sons of a sold generation, they\u2019ll grab what isn\u2019t nailed down,\u201d Blackwell sings. Millennials don\u2019t expect things to be handed to them, but they are tired of their future being bartered, sold, and stolen. They are here to take it back.<\/p>\n

\u201cPower Child\u201d makes sure you know this is a Night Beats record because it is full of their usual great grooves, reverb, slick drumming, and sound that would be just as fresh if they\u2019d originally opened for MC5. Blackwell\u2019s shredding solo on it closes out the song, leaving you wanting more. Don\u2019t worry, because \u201cRight \/ Wrong\u201d is just as good. I always like the vocal effects Blackwell uses. It\u2019s hard to discern sometimes where his normal singing voice ends and where distortion and reverb begins, and I think that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Cops\u201d is the first single from the record, and it\u2019s a burner with Been\u2019s bad ass bass, Traeger\u2019s floor-stomping drums, and Blackwell\u2019s guitar that seems to be everywhere at once as he sings about a couple days in the city gone horribly wrong. It\u2019s nice to hear the band branching out into border rock territory with the Spanish lyrics in \u201cPorque Manana,\u201d which could be translated as \u201cWhy Tomorrow?\u201d Since there\u2019s no question mark here either, I\u2019m guessing it\u2019s actually \u201cBecause Tomorrow.\u201d Act now, because tomorrow isn\u2019t guaranteed to any of us.<\/p>\n

Traeger plays drums and a maraca at the same time on \u201cSunday Mourning,\u201d creating one of the best beats on the record, and Been\u2019s bass line on it holds the song together so well that I imagine he\u2019s a bricklayer when he\u2019s not on tour. Been is the newest member of Night Beats, and his addition has taken the band to another level. His bass work is a hot mix of boogie blues, psychedelia, and funk. Not to be outdone, Blackwell\u2019s guitar on \u201cSunday Mourning\u201d might make your jaw fall off your head.<\/p>\n

\u201cShangri Lah\u201d and \u201cBad Love\u201d reveal the band\u2019s love of surf music. \u201cBurn to Breathe\u201d is a slow burn of excellent psychedelia that calls back to the 1960\u2019s better than most modern psychedelic bands can even attempt.<\/p>\n

The Monkees\u2019 \u201cLast Train to Clarksville\u201d is about a young man about to be sent to Vietnam. Night Beats rock far harder than the Monkees, of course (although \u201cClarksville\u201d is <\/em>a great tune), but I can\u2019t help wondering if \u201cLast Train to Jordan\u201d might be the band\u2019s tribute to members of their generation who served in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t gonna wait for tomorrow, ain\u2019t gonna wait for tonight,\u201d Blackwell sings on \u201cTurn the Lights.\u201d Again, complacency is the enemy of us all. The song has a great harmonica solo. So, as a sloppy player of the Mississippi saxophone myself, I love it.<\/p>\n

The album closes with \u201cEgypt Berry\u201d – perhaps the most raucous rocker on the record. Pay attention, upcoming bands: If you\u2019re wondering how to end your album, you might want to take a lesson from Night Beats. End with a song that combines Arabian-flavored guitar, Elvis Presley rhythm section beats, Johnny Cash bass, surf cymbals, and a false ending that gives you one last hit before you go.<\/p>\n

This is already in my top records of 2016 so far and will most likely be in the top ten for the entire year. Night Beats get better with each record, so buy this and their whole catalogue. Do not hesitate. Hesitation helped sell a generation to one percent of the populace. Night Beats have warned us to not let it happen again.<\/p>\n

Keep your mind open.<\/p>\n

[Don’t sell us out either. \u00a0Subscribe to us, won’t you?]<\/p>\n