Reckless Habits

Great American Taxi (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 2, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Great American Taxi Records
• ASIN: B0035YPYT0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,728 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. One Of These Days

2. New Millennium Blues

3. Get No Better

4. New Madrid

5. Unpromised Land

6. Reckless Habits

7. Cold Lonely Town

8. American Beauty

9. Tough Job

10. Fuzzy Little Hippie Girl

11. Big Sandy River

12. Albuquerque, NM

13. Good Night To Boogie

14. Parade

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 - Loosely polished album of country, blues, bluegrass, boogie and rock `n' roll, March 8, 2010

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reckless Habits (Audio CD)

The second album from this funky jam-band exhibits the same sort of artistic serendipity with which the group was born. In the wake of Leftover Salmon's demise, front-man Vince Herman hooked up with Chad Staehly and a hand-picked group of local musicians for a charity performance that spawned Great American Taxi. The polished looseness of Leftover Salmon's jam-band legacy informs the new group's music, as do the New Orleans influences found on songs like "Baby Hold On" and "Mountain Top," but there's a heavier dose of blues and southern rock boogie here. Think of the Grateful Dead at their most driving, Little Feat traipsing through their trademark rhythm `n' roll or The Band playing reflective and bittersweet.

The group's country tunes, such as the pedal steel-lined "New Madrid," have more in common with cosmic American music than Leftover Salmon's string-band influences, and the album's title track pays twangy tribute to Gram Parsons. "Unpromised Land" suggests what Lynyrd Skynyrd might've sounded like as a progressive-bluegrass band, and at six minutes you get a taste of the band's instrumental jamming. The original "American Beauty" (with its tip of the hat to the Dead) rolls along on an Allman-styled groove. There's funk, boogie and humor that variously brings to mind the Neville Brothers, Commander Cody and the Morrells, but more than anything there's an enormous feeling of satisfaction that comes from making music.

The album opens on an optimistic note with the fanciful dreaming of "One of These Days," and the road warrior of "Unpromised Land" is pained by his longing for someone back home. But really, how bad can you feel when you're packing a banjo player and a fiddler to cut a jig for you? Even the list of modern-ills that fuel the fast-paced "New Millennium Blues" are rolled out with the matter-of-factness of fatalistic observation rather than the ire of complaint, and the daily grind of a working musician has more fringe benefits than the title "Tough Job" might at first suggest. The group's guitar, bass and drums are augmented by a four-piece horn section that adds New Orleans-styled brass (leading the march on the bonus instrumental "Parade"), and a trio of backing singers that adds gospel flavor.

This is a seamless hour of confident and self-assured roots music that effortlessly combines country, rock, blues, bluegrass and second-line funk. The instrumental jamming is fluid but focused, limiting the album's three longest tracks to six minutes and the two instrumentals to fewer than three apiece. The top-line string band sound of Leftover Salmon has given way to sublime country-rock and the flavors of New Orleans. Herman seems tremendously energized by this music, his band is sharp and the guest playing of Barry Sless (pedal steel), Matt Flinner (banjo), the Peak to Freak Horns, and Black Swan Singers provide icing on a sweet cake. Fans of the Dead, Band, Burritos, Byrds and Little Feat, as well as recent acts like the Band of Heathens will love this one. 4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this band., March 7, 2010

By 

Gram fan (Santa Cruz) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reckless Habits (Audio CD)

This is a great CD. It will be loved by fans of The Band, The Dead, Leftover Salmon, Wilco, etc. Contains a nicely balanced blend of Americana, Classic Rock, Bluegrass and Jam-Band elements. Highly recommended!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great music, March 19, 2010

By 

Elyse M. Lewin (Los Angeles, CA.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reckless Habits (Audio CD)

Toe tapping, grooving album!!! They all seem to be excellent musicians and make listening fun!