Andrew Gabbard and his brother Zachary have passed this way before; now Andrew returns with his third solo album, Ramble & Rave On!. Despite its rather in your face cover, this is a record of some subtlety and unexpected twists. Take the first track, ‘Just Like Magic’. It opens with grungy low notes that I didn’t think a guitar could reach and which continue to underpin the song. Then it bursts out into Beach Boy-like harmonies – that’s actually Andrew multi-tracked singing at the top of his range. There’s more clever guitar, too.
‘If I Could Show You (Then You Would Know What I Mean)’ doesn’t have the grunge guitar but it follows the same pattern with Andrew exploring his vocal range and harmonising with himself again. So you’ve got a handle on it, right. Wrong. The title track is a powerful, bluesy rocker with organ (I’m told it isn’t actually an organ but it may be a guitar effect) – I should point out that Andrew plays and sings everything apart from Sven Kahns who adds pedal steel when required. ‘Magic Taxi’ is a piano-driven pop song which invites comparison with The Beatles some time in the seventies. I can just about pick out the ingredients that draw that analogy but neither Lennon nor McCartney would have written or sung this song.
A cover of ‘Barstool Blues’ takes over where Neil Young left off – a guitar based rocker with clever lyrics; ‘Everywhere I Go I Don’t Belong’ harks back to the country rock of Cedar City Sweetheart with Andrew supplying his own backing harmonies and we return to grungy rock for ‘All Right Mama’. Acoustic guitar supports ‘Good Boy’, a catchy slice of singer-songwriter pop that is not explicit but has to be about a favourite dog.
‘Again Again’ and ‘Donna-Lou’ both mix up the elements of the album so far and then Andrew heads for the finishing line, first with ‘I’m Bound To Ride’ which, having heard ‘Barstool Blues’, channels Crazy Horse and then with ‘Mulberry Rock’ which gives Andrew the excuse to display his guitar playing and, bizarrely, includes hints of T.Rex. The long outro could have led into ‘Elemental Child’ taken at half speed. Or have I finally flipped?
Ramble & Rave On! is an eminently listenable record and I guarantee that it will reveal something new on every play.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: https://www.facebook.com/andrewgabbardmusic/
‘Magic Taxi’ – official video:
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