Every year music critics’ belief that the decade long retro-soul revival is finally coming to an end is widely declared, only to find the genre continuing forward like the Little Engine That Could, gaining ever more strength and followers with time. This has largely been thanks to boutique labels like Daptone Records and Truth & Soul and unstoppable artists like Lee Fields, Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, The Revelations, and Los Angeles, CA’s very own Vintage Trouble. More blues rock than retro soul, depending on the jam, there is something both classic and modern about the juxtaposition of an all-white blues rock band fronted by an afro sporting soul singer in vintage ‘70s regalia, if with a decidedly modern cut. The cognac belter with the pork chop sideburns is a transcendent Ty Taylor brilliantly supported by guitarist Nalle Colt, bassist Rick Barrio Dill, and drummer Richard Danielson.
The quartet made their debut splash through 2011’s The Bomb Shelter Sessions. Produced by Peter McCabe and recorded in a mere three days, the project proved a serious hit in the UK and allowed them to successfully tour repeatedly throughout Europe and become a late night TV favorite.
Given its considerably more lived-in feel from The Bomb Shelter Sessions, one suspects, Vintage Trouble took a wee bit more time with their June 2014 release, The Swing Acoustic Sessions EP. Certainly, the acoustic take on “Another Man’s Word” has all the sensibilities of a seasoned soul classic. On this instant vintage, Ty Taylor is at his full powers on the vamp out of this emotional powerhouse of a ballad with the band lending the sweetest of vocal support and a blues bed of organic musicality. But, don’t take another man’s word for it; listen for yourself.
By L. Michael Gipson