St Paul & The Broken Bones Dial Up a Winner

Vivacious as the dickens is my conclusion from listening to "Call Me" a deeply soulful, if ever too brief joyful noise from Birmingham Alabama seven-piece St Paul & The Broken Bones. Old school technique meets new school charm extending for days. It's very much new school 'cause the boys have only been around since 2012. Leading the charge is vocalist Paul Janeway whose elastic mannerisms make "Call Me" a delightful buzz worthy dazzler that you should stay on the line to hear for as long as possible. We're talking simple, run of the mill phone call but Paul showers it with so much soul you're pretty confident you like the odds that it will bloom into something that makes heads turn and has the special power to do so at any time. Of course it helps to have a dynamic brass section to pack up your pronounced pipes. Paul has a pair of ace teammates in trombonist Ben Griner and trumpet tickler Allen Branstetter. Their handiwork makes for highly exuberant after hours compress with a choice martini background bubbles. Don't think drums aren't getting their turn in the spotlight here. Andrew Lee displays a back beat equal to the task of keeping the festivities in full flower. Brown Lollar lends a steady hand through a guitar complement that has built up the right sweat to assure he isn't over thinking his performance. The pickings are not even close to slim. Buffet portions would be accurate. To my liking this band is pretty athletic. They haven't operated as a unit long enough to have entered the married couple orbit of knowing each other so well that they finish each other's sentences but, that being said, their timing easily clears the impeccable high bar. They're scattering magic across the lounge therefore it's ok for you to loosen the collar and breathe in soul that luck holding out for the guys who quite literally had entered one last chance territory before figuring out that they clicked could become a talked about incandescent palate cleanser that goes far deeper than taste buds. We should breathe a sigh of relief that they didn't decide to abandon the whole music as vocation thing before trying "Call Me" on for size. This number results in shiny, laid back electric grooves any way you slice it. I'm thrilled that sporting an attention grabbing moniker hasn't been spoiled by a sound that lacks pizzazz. Call it a hunch but "Call Me" bodes well for the future success of the full length project "Half the City". This is one soul revival meant to enervate the most numbed off listener.