It doesn’t take a brilliant music journalist like Lester Bangs to know when a band is capable of becoming the next big thing. Out of the New Hampshire’s vibrant seacoast music scene, Gretchen And The Pickpockets create more urgency than a 2o alarm fire on their debut album. The most notable thing about this band is well constructed their songs are and how each part fits in with the whole to create vital music. If you’re not digging this band but the end of this album, check your pulse. You’re dead.
Opening track, “Break A Sweat,” although not particularly well recorded, stands out for its effort. It takes a heap of sass, mixes it with hip R&B styles from the 1960s, tosses 1950s doowop cooing into the chorus, and fuses it all into a horn blasting number. Vocalist Gretchen Klempa could have come here from another time in American music. She certainly knows how to use inflection and her rangy vocal to make an impression.
The rest of the tunes on this full length were much better recorded, mixed, and mastered. Slow burning torch number “No Good” sweeps far and wide on the strength of Klempa’s rangy, soulful belting and trumpet player Ryan O’Connell’s mercurial, vibrant melodic line. Both voice and horn scale marvelous heights, reaching musical and emotional highs before suddenly coming back down again. And that shift in dynamics makes it an emotional rollercoaster ride, making the listener want to keep up with all of the feelings in this song.
“Don’t Let Go” is the kind of racing tempo, trumpet blasting, start-stop groove that makes everyone in the room want to move it. There is true dramatic urgency in Klempa’s vocal delivery, especially when she and the band shifts dynamics, giving the listener another slice of their excellence in each section of the song.
“Down Down Down Intro” is an eerie, well conceived soundscape leading into the longer “Down Down Down,” a quiet, mournful torch song. Klemp takes her voice down into a soft, cooing zone, wisely using self-restraint to make the feeling stronger, keeping the tension simmering just beneath the surface. When the time is right, this song erupts into an edgy guitar lead piece of racing action. It’s all of these touches, changes, shifts, well handled, in one song, that makes this rock. Gretchen And Her Pickpockets keep making one feel they’re taking him some place climactic.
“Confident” finds Klempa and her band mates swaggering through a song that sounds like its title. This one initially oozes out of the stereo speakers with a well paced cool. Brilliantly, the band starts layering with a bright trumpet while picking up speed as they move into the fast lane. And again, it’s this shift that makes the listener feel they’ve risen, along with the band, to a higher level. Each section has a life of its own. Bass player Mike Klempa and drummer Tom O’Connell punctuate its start-stop rhythms with adept, slam dunk precision.
“All The Same” is an eerie, lyrical contemplation of the mundane routine called life. Guitarist Richie Smith picks an exciting melodic line while the rhythm section lays down a speedy groove. They all create an incredible sense of urgency here as the listener digs those considerate notes, well accented, and played lickety split. The listener can picture the fingers and picks hitting the strings as well as the sticks pounding the skins. The band is on fire here, and it’s a fire you don’t want them to ever put out as this song just rocks. Not to mention, Ms Klempa wails like a banshee during her higher notes, and that adds another layer of fierce danger to the tune.
Slower ballad “That’s Where I’ll Go” finds Klempa applying her torch song vocal to an amazing slow build. She smolders with passion while her band mates keep the sound edgy and sharp around her. Although this is an R&B band influenced by Amy Whinehouse, Duffy, and some of the older Stax artists, the musicians clearly grew up in the rock era. They bring that aggression and passion to the forefront of this and the other numbers throughout this album. While we hear an R&B burn with passion, we also hear a perfect blends of styles. The lead guitar ride out here could’ve also found a home in a Grateful Dead tribute show.
“Satisfied” transitions well from a dreamy, floating low end to a bossy groove that Klempa croons over with her powerhouse belts and sustains, making this song come alive in every verse. Keeping the trumpet in the backdrop creates a hypnotic melody line that intrigues as it blows majestically inside this song’s massive sound.
Gretchen And The Pickpockets close out with a grinding guitar, a six string making its raw emotion waft in the backdrop of a female-male dual vocal number, “Swimmin’ In The Sea.” The contrast in tensions between the guitar’s grind and the empowered vocal sustains creates an undeniable fire. The musicians rock with the jittery, nervous twitch of Nirvana beneath Ms. Klempa’s torchy, smoldering, bluesy delivery, creating a kaleidoscope of bracing sounds.
Gretchen And The Pickpockets are clearly onto something big with their distinct, soulful sound. They just won a New England Music Award for Best In State: New Hampshire. They’ve also been taking their music to other parts of the country. It should prove interesting to see how far this combo can carry their music. Psst, they also have a new EP for those of you who fall instantly in love with this band and just can’t get enough of them.
www.gretchenandthepickpockets.com
