Taylor and the Puffs
You Know When Summers Comin'
by: Rex Dangerfield
Taylor and the Puffs’ You Know That Summer’s Comin’ delivers some catchy, poppy hooks and light-hearted guitar-strumming sing-alongs that sound like they might make a nice, laidback soundtrack to a drunken picnic in the sunshine. It’s a winsome mix of Beatles-influenced melodies and Tom Petty-esque vocal styling. If you ever had a hippie high-school girlfriend, then this would be the type thing she might throw into the disc player as a backdrop while you both roll around in the grass and smoke herb. For the most part, the disc keeps a dreamy, upbeat mood that toys with psychedelia, using odd little keyboard effects and heavily distorted production, as heard on the title track. Taylor shows his range with the bar-blazing “Whole Lotta Shakin’,” which abandons the dreaminess for a toothier, down-and dirty rock'n'roll firecracker of a tune that might shake Chuck Berry awake. But that track is something of an anomaly on this release, with the majority carrying more of a relaxed “British explosion” meets “southern rock” kind of feel. Taylor’s laidback singing style makes me think of being in love on drugs, and his guitar work, especially when he abandons the strumming for some flashy solos, really adds a lot to the disc. This isn’t that thick slab of rock you spin to get the blood flowing and the heart racing, but when you’re ready to chill to some very low-fi (self-recorded) indie grooves, this might soothe what ails you. Toward the end of the disc, the pace picks up a bit, and the hip-shaking goodness kicks into a higher gear, with “You Just Wanna Be Alone,” and the Fender-drenched closer “You’re Lost,” which wraps things up with a solid, slow burn.
You Know That Summer’s Comin’ is certainly an impressive effort, but be forewarned: You’re in for a very “underground” sound in regard to recording quality. Think of a scratchy vinyl LP that you pulled from a milk crate at your neighbor’s garage sale, complete with tons of fuzz and treble. For the most part, this was likely intentional and works well for the style of music, providing a distinctive retro flavor, but at other times, thumbs down. In particular, there is probably a good song buried in the mix of “It Don’t Come Easy” but it gets lost behind an irritating percussion sound that is so high in the mix – what is that, a cabasa? – that it brings to mind the maddening din of a million chirping crickets. Thankfully, this too is an anomaly on the disc. So, if some lively, inebriated, Birmingham-born bar rock sounds like your cup of tea, you can pick up this release from local label Skybucket Records at www.skybucket.com. Oh, and as long as you’re spinning the disc, stick around for the hidden track. I love hidden tracks … more bang for the buck.
Editors note: Taylor & The Puffs is now performing as Taylor Hollingsworth
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