THE CORDUROY BLUE
The Corduroy Blue
Atlanta, United States
The Corduroy Blue’s latest and self-titled album is a feat of new pop, rock and great melodies. The album is sprung from the tones of Bowie, The Clash, and The Beatles with some Deep Purple thrown in for good measure. The Corduroy Blue have distilled a sound in these songs that is inspired by the classics and feels classic from the moment you stick it on. Though they don’t play it safe, not ever. Each song has its surprises and its twists, they feint, riposte then lunges and it's magnificent. An album that feels this definitive is rare, even in the big leagues. The Corduroy Blue are about to grab a whole lot of heads by the ears and play them hit after hit after hit.
The album starts, ‘Fight The Tears’. It's so much to juggle right out of the gate. First, piano, then some big band sounds, what’s that? Rock guitar from the 00s, here it comes! It's all harmonic, it’s all layers and it all works. With a feeling of pace, The Corduroy Blue breathes to life a rocking track that is the first of many new favourites. The vocals are organic, human and so identifiable even after one track, like John Lennon and Ed Sheehan donated the best of their voices to the fraternal duo and it's as great as you’d think. The song swirls around the vocals feeling sharp, classy, fun and bluesy. What an opener.
To follow comes ‘Bye Bye Love’, an upbeat pop-centric track that harkens to those 00s greats in its melodies, harmonies, and guitars that rip through the drums and bass to clear the clouds. It lights up your mind as you search for the little subtleties, the rap of hi-hats, the chug or bounce of bass and those harmonic bleats that keep the song breathing. ‘Nature of the Game’ shows The Corduroy Blue’s love of Bowie and Beatle. It's big, it’s a story, it moves and it never sits in one room long enough to become the furniture. Abba vibes in the chorus make this song even more of a classic and it goes on. Another gemstone on their blue corduroy jackets of tone.
The pair have shown us they can do upbeat and rock, but can they do sad? Can they do ballads like their inspirations? My question was answered with ‘Somethin’(in the way)’ a beautiful warm blend of harmonies and melodies that evolves as the song goes on just as relationships do. It's full of TCB’s complex instrumental and harmonic grace. A song for the ages in my book.
I have not time to write what I would like about each song on this album. Tracks written by as musical a pair as they, deserve to be listened to and examined to completion. The Corduroy Blue have poured so much of themselves into these songs and it shows. It’s an adventure in rock, a party in pop and a romance in blues. You will find a new favourite among these songs, from the lovestruck tones of ‘Dreams + Nightmares’ to the upbeat funky country march of ‘The Death of Me’, there is something for everyone who loves music. And not any old music, but music that is human, it is played, it has its imperfections and that’s what makes it great. Go back to listen to those albums of old, Bowie and The Beatles, and you will hear the slip-ups, feel the seams. Are they not what makes it splendid? The knowledge of how it's made, the history of the players coming together as one to create a singular sound that arrives at our ears as one, whole, song. These qualities that make that music as it is are present too in The Corduroy Blue. An album that will stand the test of time as an example of what can be done when you feel the music.