The Insomniacs made their auspicious debut in 2007 with Left Coast Blues, which by chance I picked up and gave a listen a while back. I was searching for hot new bands and their name came up. The tag was spot on, they were hot and they still are on release #2 At Least I'm Not With You.
This outfit reminds me off one of my old favorites Little Charlie and The Nighcats, except they are much better. Vyasa Dodson (vocals and guitar), Dean Mueller (bass), Joel Patterson (pedal steel guitar) and Jeff Turmes (tenor and baritone sax) are the core group and they have several guest appearances as well during the recording session.
At Least I'm Not With You has a good mixture of guitar driven blues-rock with typical lyrics for the genre and a few outstanding instrumentals sprinkled in to keep it all interesting. The boys strut their stuff on the all musical tracks “Root Beer Float” and the “Angry Surfer” which features some great guitar licks that shows how this unit can rip through a song like a buzz saw. The closer is another barn burner titled “Insomniacs Boogie” and does it ever boogie on down the road!
The tracks that featuring snappy lyrics are filled with ear catching rhythms that I found irresistible-I could not stop my feet from moving! The title track is one of the best tracks with a bit of cynicism directed at one’s partner although quite humorous, as rule the blues tend to be that way.
The Hammond organ plays a key role in the overall sound of this band as well and it sounds great whether it’s understated or prominent, either way it works very well in pumping energy into the rest of the band and completing them as one nasty quartet firing off on all cylinders. “She Can Talk” is real rug cutter and another track filled with hilarious lyrics pointing out the vulnerabilities of the female gender. I really don’t care if it sounds “political incorrect” or sexist, who cares? This is great music and a lot of fun and not to be taken seriously. Besides people do take themselves much too serious these days and if more people listened to music like this they could lighten up, kick off their shoes and have a few laughs.
This is party time music brothers and sisters so don’t miss a lick and give this one a few spins and see for yourself how the real people live.
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
May 28, 2009
