Self-released

Oh, Lord – these guys are fun.

Rocking and rolling and tumbling and doing it up/over/under/sideways/down, out of North Carolina come RC & The Moonpie Band. The core band consists of five members: frontman Robert “RC” Christian and his brother-in-soul Russell Pleasants concentrate on vocals; the three-piece team of Mike Logiovino (bass), T Bone Betourney (drums) and guitarist Robert Marlowe take it from there. Christian and Pleasants are a formidable team – they can dole it out as smooth as Sam and Dave and then turn around and get as greasy as needed to get the tune across. Meanwhile (with a little help from some talented friends here and there), Marlowe, Betourney and Logiovino dole out everything from cigarette-dangling, tattered-speaker bluesrock raunch to the kind of joyful noise that’ll make you feel like you were hanging with the angels on Sunday morning (with a brown paper bag of a little something to keep the snakes in your head at bay).

There’s an art in capturing the spirit of Muddy Waters without sounding like an imitation – but Christian pulls it off with his vocals on the album-opening “F In Funk”. The album takes off and never looks back from there, revealing the band’s many-faceted sound. Here we have some you-either-know-what-I’m-talking-about-or-you-don’t innuendo: the slide guitar-driven “Squeeze Play Blues” and “Sweet Tooth” – all deliciously gooey bass and guitar that ranges from Page-in-a-tarpit roar to Allmanesque guitar harmonies. Over here we have some unexpectedly-cool surprises: imagine Prince’s “Kiss” slowed down with Latin-flavored hand percussion and a wicked sexy acoustic guitar woven throughout – or a multi-layered shredder romp through Jimmie Vaughan’s “Hey Yeah” (false blastoff and all). And over there we have Keef-style geetar growl (“Like A Puma”) and Christian launching into a bluesy rap that conjures up Pigpen in his prime (“Viagra”).

Dig the cool mix of “Lonesome And Then Some”: two flavors of guitar – courtesy of Marlowe’s clean-voiced riffs and guest Jeff Cochran’s fierce fuzztones; silky bass playing off Betourney’s very dry-sounding drum kit; and Christian’s laying-it-out-there vox. “I Wouldn’t Treat A Dog” sounds like Carlos Santana sitting in with Bobby “Blue” Bland; figger out Marlowe’s licks on “Country Girl” and you’ll have yourself a fine lesson in cooler-than-cool jazzbo guitar; and the band’s take on “Hope In A Hopeless World” will make you think and sway your hips … and you can’t ask for more than that. Need a little extra nasty to suit your taste? (Wow … really? ) “Wang Dang Doodle” – the last listed track – will take care o’ that, baby.

SPOILER ALERT: but worth it all the same, as I don’t want you to think your CD changer is fetching a bad spell when it starts clicking through an additional 60-odd silent mini-tracks after “Wang Dang Doodle”. Go pour yourself another and be patient – the payoff is the cool raunchawoop of “Funky Carolina”. RC leads the band through a tour of a scene most may not even know exists (“home of Mr. John Coltrane!”). Listen to Logiovino’s bass rumble and bounce its way around guest Debby Gore’s classic clavinet grumbling along. Somewhere up there, Rufus Thomas is smiling, big time.

Oh, Lord – these guys are fun.

*****

Brian Robbins enjoys a good moonpie every now and then over at www.brian-robbins.com