Customer Reviews

My Suitcase Is Always Packed

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great album! Thoughtful, poetic, and funny at the same time. The way the group bounces back and forth from cajun to old time country to whatever is cool. They make it work. I give an A+ to the lyrics both French and English. Linzay can sing a balad like he's just sitting across the table telling you a story - it's a nice, relaxing style. The fiddle and guitar work major kicks font font. My only question is why these guys aren't bigger. They had a video on the country music video channels, but I really can't figure out why their albums aren't chart toppers.

The Ramblers fifth album, their second for Sugar Hill, continues to masterfully mix fiddle-led country and blues, Hot Club-styled jazz and galloping western swing. As the band's evolved from imitation to influence, so too have they moved from albums stocked with covers to nearly all original material. Aside from a pair of Cajun classics, the Touchet Family's "Old Fashioned Two Step" and Eddie Shuler's "La Valse De Meche," the band members have written their own country weepers, bluesy jazz and all manner of dance tunes. Actually, the entire album, as with most of the group's repertoire, is filled with dance tunes - slow, fast and in between, this is music meant to get listeners moving.

The group's lead vocalist (and one of its two fiddlers) Linzay Young says cheekily, "Who knew all these years of poverty, heart break, substance abuse, self-exploration and transient life-style would result in something worth-while!" Of those experiences, heartache tops the list, bending an elbow in "Drinkin' to You," dampening eyes on the fiddle waltz "Bloodshot," singing the lonesome blues "Doggone My Time," and unconvincingly giving bad times a kiss-off with "Goodbye to the Blues." But the romantic problems aren't all past-due as the songs find happiness in a less-then-perfect relationship, beg for another chance, navigate parental interference, and in the sly "My Suitcase is Always Packed," avoid entanglement with an ever-ready escape plan.

The album closes with an original call-and-response jump blues "The Barnyard Bachelor" that provides a microcosm of the band's nostalgic influences, musical chops, sweet humor and undeniable danceability. This band gets better with each release, more confident in their writing, more thorough in the absorption of their influences, and both tighter and more relaxed in their vocal harmonies and instrumental interplay. With guest helpings of accordion, steel and piano the Ramblers match suit-and-tie style to sleeves-rolled-up workmanship. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

I was looking for Zydeco/Cajun music & picked up this CD at my local library. I loved every song so I bought my own copy. Lively music, singable tunes, just a lot of fun to listen to. I will be buying more of this group's recordings.

Some good fast paced songs along w/ some slower tunes as well. Funny I never heard of them when I lived closer to Baton Rouge. Their concerts are fun as well!

Honestly, I was a little disappointed in the non-Cajun tracks. They're not bad, but what makes the Ramblers so outstanding is that they are so particular about their instrumental arrangements and tailor them so carefully to each song, so even though it all sounds like the Ramblers, nothing ever sounds like anything else. The arrangements this time seem less sophisticated and less individualized than those on the previous three albums (I don't have the 2001 album, which is out of production at the time I'm writing this).

Or maybe they have one too many moseying country-style tracks when they needed another swingy one. It's a little lethargic.

On the up side:
The Cajun tracks are great, although it's less obvious since Cajun music, by nature, is kind of repetitive. Linzay Young doesn't have the most distinctive voice in the world, but he is an uncommonly effective singer; he always makes it sound easy and conversational.