Published on Jul 18, 1998
For someone who has claimed to have a vast knowledge of music,
it may surprise people to hear that I’ve never been into NRBQ,
simply because I haven’t heard them that much. (My only exposure to
the group was when I was in college radio, and
Wild Weekend was their latest release, an album I just
didn’t care about.)
But for some reason, I felt a desire to find out about this
American institution – and it just so happened that our friends at
Rounder wrote to tell me about NRBQ’s latest release,
You Gotta Be Loose. (It also could have been that I feared
earning the wrath of Penn Jillette, who wrote in the liner notes,
“If you don’t like NRBQ, I don’t want to be around you.” No wonder
he never returned my phone calls.)
Admittedly, the band – vocalist/keyboardist Terry Adams,
guitarist Johnny Spampinato, bassist Joey Spampinato and drummer
Tom Ardolino – are not your typical band. While they are more than
capable musicians, their playing embodies a spirit of permanent
looseness that makes it almost sound like they’re a bar band who
made it. But make no mistake, NRBQ is no bar band – you can tell
that from the tongue-in-cheek humor of their sometimes
undecipherable lyrics – and the different nature of their
songs.
If the tight-but-loose attribute of the band doesn’t shock you,
then what might is that these live cuts sound like they were
recorded in small clubs (which, undoubtedly, they were). One would
have thought that after such a long time together, NRBQ would have
earned the ability to perform in larger arenas. Then again, maybe
their style is more tailored to the smaller venues.
From a quick blues shuffle (“I Got A Rocket In My Pocket,” “Jump
Man Jump”) to solid pop rock (“Be Here Now,” “Ain’t No Free,” “The
One And Only”) to their own unique take on the world around them
(“Girl Scout Cookies,” “Wacky Tobacky,” “Paris”), Adams and crew
literally win the listener over before the first song is completed.
Even if you don’t want to get sucked into the party, you soon find
yourself with the lampshade on your head, happily bouncing along to
NRBQ.
In a sense, NRBQ reminds me of a modern-day band, The Bottle
Rockets, a comparison I make with the utmost respect to both bands.
In case you doubt me, check out the country-in-a-washing-machine
fury of “Mule In The Corn” off
You Gotta Be Loose and a song like “Sunday Sports” off The
Bottle Rockets’s
The Brooklyn Side. Whether they know it or not, NRBQ has
influenced more bands than we all will ever know.
Of course, their “hit” – “It’s A Wild Weekend” – is here as
well, if only to provide some type of an anchor for the uninitiated
(like me). Problem is, by the time you get to this track, you feel
like you’ve been listening to the band all your life. If anything,
this is a sign of just how good NRBQ really is.
You Gotta Be Loose is a disc that will not only serve as a
wonderful introduction to the band, but it will spark an interest
in discovering the rest of this group’s back catalog. There is no
doubt that NRBQ is one of this country’s most unheralded musical
treasures. One wonders how long this will last after the fever
spreads thanks to this album.