All cultures have it, that perfect, visceral, rapturous musical moment when the earth seems to stop moving and the soul soars. Hippies find it beating on a drum around a camp fire; church ladies prefer to sing songs of praise until the spirit moves them. There's really no wrong way to go about it (as long as it's legal).
Chances are, though, if you spend your formative years in Texas, you're going to stumble across it on a humid evening as some blues band's wah-inflected sound loops, double-helix style, through a giddy, sweaty horde that's turned Lone Star into a sacrament and considers Stevie Ray a saint.
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Otis Jones Project's debut EP.
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The Otis Jones Project really, really wants to be that band.
Their three-song EP, "Screamin' and Cryin'," which was released Tuesday on Blast Records, is a tasty three-meat plate of Texas groove that shoots straight for the hips. This is good-vibe music, pure and simple; no self-conscious, lo-fi, post-punk gimmicks, just a fat foundation of bass and drums topped off with slick riffs.
The band throws a trump card right out of the gate with "Screamin' and Crying'," a Hendrix-tinged tune that lets each member of the trio show off his strengths (particularly guitarist/vocalist Josh McGee, who can play a blazing solo but knows when to rein it in, which is a knowledge of nuance that can be hard to come by). "With It All The Time" gives a quick nod to a more stripped-down, early-'60s sound before it smothers it in fuzz. The rhythm section steals the show on the closer, "Like This," a ready-made encore that exists solely to make girls dance. And there's nothing wrong with that.
The Otis Jones Project hasn't been around long, but its members have meshed together seamlessly. Drummer Wil Willoughby and McGee met when they were doing studio work for country/rock artist Rocky Tippit and decided they wanted to veer away from the country and move more toward the rock. The pair added Jim Hogle on bass and, a few short months later, they're signed, recorded and ready to roll.
The only complaint about this EP is its brevity, but it works as an appetizer. This is not music that was meant to be listened to through iPod earbuds; buy "Screamin' and Cryin'" to get a taste, and then try to catch a live show. Summer isn't far off, which means hot, sticky blues season is just around the corner.
www.theotisjonesproject.com
