Must Hear Tracks: “What About Now” “Grateful” “Shabang” “Letters To The Editor” “Ace In The Hole”
It takes a special band to make the songs that every wide-eyed kid with a guitar wants to make and not sound unbearably derivative. It requires a certain fearlessness — to walk confidently down the most beaten creative paths, rather than blazing new trails. This is especially true when dabbling in the sounds of the 60s and 70s. To attempt breathing new life into such familiar tones is either a natural endeavor for the self-assured, or a cop-out for those with no new ideas to contribute. After over 25 years in the indie scene (mostly as co-frontman of Dr. Dog), Scott McMicken has more than cut his teeth. He’s got nothing to prove. At this point, he sounds like he can just materialize great tunes like cotton candy out of the machine.
On Shabang, Scott McMicken and his Ever Expanding band are painting with primary colors; the brightest shades of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, and funk. Major chords, warm bass, bluesy guitars, bright pianos, and unironic messages. Along with all the funky americana tones, Shabang mellows out with a healthy dose of dub: syncopated rhythms, echoing reverb, horn stabs, the works. The Ever Expanding really just play any genre of music that sounds appropriate drifting from a ramshackle backyard shed, along with the faint sent of afternoon bong rips.
Shabang springs to life with “What About Now,” a breeze of a song that feels like it could’ve been playing on a jukebox during your grandparents’ first date. It wafts through, leaving an aroma of optimism in its wake. On “Letters to the Editor,” McMicken tries engineering a modest media campaign to win back his lost love, atop doo-wop that sways and yearns with its narrator. The verses of the title track, “Shabang,” pay homage to the deep groove from T. Rex’s “Mambo Sun” tastefully enough to dodge accusations of plagiarism. “Grateful” slithers through the muck like an electric eel, preaching a genuine message of self reflection and forgiveness as it creeps along. Late album highlight “Ace In The Hole” leans into the record’s spiritual bent, with down-home wisdom and a musical backdrop to match. These are the kind of tunes you get to know; the kind that bubble up from the depths of memory when the mood’s just right.
The line between inspired retro-rock and derivative slop is paper-thin, though. Occasionally, Shabang stumbles into the latter. “Reconcile” comes across dated and stomp-clap-y. It’s got good intentions, but the rhymes are just too predictable. “Restart” is a half-baked heart-to-heart with a friend who never picks the right partner, even if the groove tries to make it more palatable. “Diamonds in the Snow” sounds like The Killers and Tame Impala made a song together using a random lyric generator. On the strength of the band itself and McMicken’s melodies, none of them are abject failures, but they don’t shine nearly as bright as the Shabang‘s most memorable songs.
For some, Shabang may well sound like a parade of familiar progressions and naive lyrical directness. But consider this: one man’s platitude is another man’s mantra. I want to ask myself “what about now?” without a shred of irony. I want to bask in the virtues of old-timey concepts like reconciliation and gratitude. This record wins in all the ways that matter. It uplifts without patronizing. It hits the chord your gut hopes for without sounding lazy. It’s just good old-fashioned happy music. Considering all the people out there trying to make it, precious few manage to do it as authentically and humbly as McMicken.
Sources are linked in the text, album art found here,
The Healthy Alternative 
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