Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys’ Keep on Pushin’ is arguably their best collection of songs yet. The nine track affair opens with “On the Run”, a vulnerable and enduring guitar-driven R&B track further fueled by soulful backing singers and vigorous horn flourishes. The Northwest four piece have long since mastered a route for presenting their retro-themed material in an intensely personal and modern context. It never smacks of imitation. The opener has a subtle effect on listeners; note by note, bar by bar, “On the Road” slowly gathers emotional intensity that pays off with its refrain and, in a larger context, throughout the song.
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The scintillating “George Fisk” takes on spying on your neighbor as its subject and, even if it isn’t one of the most pleasant topics, Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys make it one of the most enjoyable romps on this album. Wheels, in particular, really throws himself into the vocal and it crackles with fiery intent. The piercing lead guitar and barroom piano of “As Long as You’re There” is the album’s earliest and, perhaps, most memorable stab at a slow, draining blues. It’s full of emphatic emotion at every level – musically, vocally, lyrically. The piano contributions are especially memorable.
Another of the great blues tunes slated for this release is “The Fall”. It’s a lot of things and one of them is an outright showcase for Brandon Logan’s considerable six-string talents. He lets it rip with blistering slide guitar broadsides and biting wah-wah laced lines that are practically flamethrowers for the listener. Wheels answers the call, as well, with a brilliant vocal performance, but this is all Logan, and well worth every second. The funk influences powering “Finding Your Way Back Home” are enhanced by a percolating rhythm track, but the real highlights come with Wheels’ fiery harp playing and yet more boisterous guitar from Logan.
Organ doubles the infectious guitar riff at the center of “Mizz Karman”, the album’s penultimate track, and the effect is powerful. It has a hypnotic pull on the listener and breaks off at the right places into brief bridges from one passage to the next. Wheels utilizes vocal post-production effects on his voice at scattered points and it doesn’t otherwise obscure another fine vocal. The closer “Time to Bail (Keep on Pushin’)” has undeniable possibilities in a live setting as it finds the band stretching out their chemistry well past the seven minute mark. Guest vocalist LaRhonda Steele joins Wheels for the singing and her pyrotechnic voice helps make this an even more memorable moment.
There’s something on Keep on Pushin’ for everyone who likes retro-influenced blues and other genres of that ilk. Touching every base makes it a complete collection that’s representative of where Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys have been as well as where they’re likely going from here. Take a listen if you have a chance because this is a well-oiled machine functioning at the peak of its power. It really doesn’t get much better than this.
Garth Thomas