King Tyrone and the Graveyard Ramblers

There's not a lot of information around about King Tyrone & the Graveyard Ramblers. But almost everything one really needs to know, at least for an introduction, is on this superb debut CD, a rocking, raucous, delightfully unassuming journey into the same territory that bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Swampwater mapped out 40 years ago or so — one can also hear a lot of Southern soul, and a blues base as a foundation for their sound. And these guys are the real article, too, which may be why this CD is so completely disarming — it deals in conventions of the swamp rock genre that are the real article, so far as one can tell, for these four guys. There's no sign of pretense anywhere, and it's hard to imagine that if this group had come along 40 years earlier they'd be the least bit different from the way they do their music here, all crunchy guitars and a busy but straight-ahead attack on the drums. And like the best rock & roll recordings, it all has the feel of a live recording, which makes one eager to hear what these guys sound like at the local road house. If you get the chance, buy the CD — you won't be disappointed — and if they're playing somewhere nearby, they're worth the trip to check them out. (And it makes this reviewer wish, once again, that New York City still had the Lone Star Cafe, so bands like this would have one place to play here....)