Overserved Gentlemen
Album Title: Pistachio Trail
Record Label: Outpost Music
Review by Sal Serio
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Overserved Gentlemen - Pistachio Trail
Overserved Gentlemen are trying to throw me for a loop. Their press merely says that they are from Wisconsin (no city or regional clarification given) and their genre is described as “Pollinated Blues”, as if daring the music critic to define who they are and what they do. And that sorry-ass music writer happens to be me!
On the upside of this equation, I’m hip to their trip. The 9 songs on the debut “Pistachio Trail” CD are all quite enjoyable, and really do run the gamut from gritty heavy blues (“Straighten Out”, “Blues N7”), to more lighthearted sing-a-long-on-a-summer-day compositions (“Leslie”), to jazz-rock-jamming in unusual time signatures (“Afrobeast”). So, yeah… I get it. Don’t stick these guys in to a box, because they are capable of coloring outside of the lines. Each and every one of these songs grow some funk of their own, conceived in their own unique DNA.
The beauty is, the OSG guys are obviously taking chances and forging their own identity, yet they are still easily palatable. Avoiding the “difficult listening” tag, if you will. This is emphasized by the multitude of bookings on their calendar. The 3 piece blues band framework keeps them grounded, but their no-holds-barred attitude keeps their blues fresh, and, well… pollinated. I say that we need another round!
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