Phil Coyne and The Wayward Aces is a new, swingin’ blues act hailing from the land down under. I’m all for it. It’s always interesting seeing non-American nationals tackle a genre which is included in distinctive, pop cultural, all-American musical iconography. They usually bring something unique looking from the outside in to American blues music, mixing it with rich aspects of their own cultural heritage.
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The result here is something that feels like an interesting mixture of soft rock, traditional blues, and alternative – courtesy of a sound that simultaneously conjures what an American listener thinks of with respect to blues, whilst simultaneously placing that ideal scene in the middle of a summer night in the outback.
The groove is undeniable. In an era when digitization and electronically manipulated vocals reign supreme, Coyne has a nice swagger but eschews anything of the sort. The idols he worships are distinctly and unapologetically old guard. The kind of people who pioneered popular music during the golden ages of the sixties, seventies, and eighties – the era when coexistence between genres was still tolerated and represented by the charts.
Coyne and his band’s new album feels like a labor of love. You can tell when a song is the result of hard work, everything fine-tuned and practiced to the point of it going beyond just muscle memory. Coyne has this remarkable sense of precision, but he makes it sound like it’s all happening serendipitously at once. There’s a relaxed affability to each song, bringing out a kind of intimate and personable experience in sharp contrast to Coyne’s caustic, evocative vocal performances. Blues has always had this kind of confessional undertone to it.
Whether it’s The Rolling Stones and How Can I Stop, or Bonnie Raitt and Have a Heart, blues is the most emo a rock-and-roll star could ever get. Sweet without being overtly sentimental, confronting but not in a manner off-putting or TMI for an audience. There was always something cathartic about blues as a genre, a sense of vulnerable creative expression that cleared – rather than artistically muddied – any communicatory waters. The desired result always conjured to my mind a deep conversation with a mate at the bar, a bright blue neon sign shining down, the smell of beer and aged, wooden tables. The kind of intimacy that breeds a sort of contemplative, nostalgic tinge that again highlights the aforementioned qualities setting blues apart as a popular music genre.
It’s clear this sentimentality is alive and well in a similar form for Coyne. In an interview with independent music outlet Blues.Gr, he stated of the band’s intentions: “The way we record is the most true to the way we play onstage; in one room, all at once. I always wanted to be in the band I wanted to see, and I always want to see a band having a good time. Its live music, that means we’ll do our best but, as an audience, you’ve gotta do your best; the more you enjoy, the more we’ll get amped and carry on.”
Garth Thomas