Shaun Young - Movin' (2018)

A full 12 songs albums featuring 11 originals and one cover (Someday by way of Bobby Vee and the Crickets.). But wait! There’s more! Young is not alone and he didn’t record this album with one but with two bands.

The Texas Blue Dots are Alberto Telo (Colton Turner) on drums, Paolo Bortoloiol on bass, Massimo Gerosa on piano (is there an Italian connection in Austin?) and none other than Young himself on guitar.

The songs on which they play have a strong blues influence (Someday or Got It Made with a nod to Gene Vincent’s Baby Blue in the intro) with a bit of jivin’ jazz (Baby Stop Your Jivin Me) and plain Rock’n’roll (When You Do That.) The later featuring a cracking guitar solo.

The Three Ringers are the other band to back the singer on this album. They are Bobby Trimble (of Fly Rite Trio/Boys fame) on drums, Tjarko (Ronnie Dawson, the Tinstars, Planet Rockers) on guitar and Todd Wulfmeyer (81/2 Souvenirs, Marti Brom) on double bass. The three of them also play in the Modern Don Juan. So, like with the Texas Blue Dots, expect solid musicianship.

The songs on which they play cover the whole spectrum of rockin’ music. Movin has the same tension and menace than the best of Johnny Kidd. Things Will Never Be the Same is pure Rockabilly straight from the fifties. I guess that Willie Lewis would have been proud to release this one on a beautiful 78rpm. I plead the 5th is more on the Honky Tonk side of things and so are Drink Til I Can Feel the Pain and Set Me Up.

On the Buddy Holly influenced “More than Any Tounge Can Tell” Young sings “I know that I’m not Shakespeare”, well if that title wasn’t already given to Hank Williams I would easily call him the Hillbilly Shakespeare. Since the High Noon days, Young has always proven to be a fine lyricist and this album makes no exception. Another fine exemple is the rockin’ My Heartaches Been Confirmed.

Knockout closes the album like every good rockin’ album should do: letting you beg for more.

Both bands give the best and i’d like to mention Mr Wulfmeyer harmonies that are a big part of the mix (I can’t tell you how many time I listened to More than any…) and Young’s production is nothing but perfect.