“Bless my heart. Bless yours, too. I don’t know where I’m going, don’t know what I’m gonna do.”
So sings 23-year-old Brittany Howard on the opening track of Alabama Shakes’ debut album, Boys & Girls. Such sentiments aren’t surprising coming from the lead singer and guitarist of a brand new rock band from Alabama that, in the span of only a few months, has made a national TV appearance on Conan and sold out nearly every performance on its first tour.
It’s lyrics like these and Howard’s ability to belt them with what seems like every inch of her being that make Alabama Shakes so appealing.
If Howard weren’t frontwoman, the group could easily stand on its own, but it probably wouldn’t sell out shows quite as rapidly. Her electrifying pipes transform Alabama Shakes from “just another soul revival band” into a musical force to be reckoned with.
The band is Howard’s perfect counterpart, providing steady rhythms and quickly familiar melodies that flow beneath her vocal ballads.
On “Heartbreaker,” underlying instrumentation provides enough lightheartedness that listening to Howard wail, “How was I supposed to know you was a heartbreaker?” isn’t quite as sob-inducing. And on “Be Mine,” Howard’s repetition of “Be my baby!” is carried and propelled by a lengthy blast of guitar, cymbals and keyboard.
Grounded in Alabama Shakes’ evident passion for soulful rock ‘n’ roll, Boys & Girls is refreshing and sincere — a wholly promising debut that serves as a testament to the group’s success thus far.
Alabama Shakes
Boys & Girls
Rock
Dive Verdict: 4 of 5 stars
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