Video premiere: Taylor Locke & the Roughs, ‘My Only Drug’
Kevin Bronson on
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On the surface, Taylor Locke does not have it rough. He’s poster-boy handsome, dispenses guitar licks with the best of ’em and has played with Rooney for a decade or so. But Locke does wear his heart on his sleeve, and there lies the source material for the music of Taylor Locke & the Roughs, his foursome with Chris Price, Joe Seiders and Mikey Perez. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Roughs released two albums in 2010, “Grain & Grape” and “Marathon,” and around his duties in Rooney he’s spent the better part of the last year spreading his classic pop gospel. It is classic, too – clean guitar lines, buoyant melodies and plenty of kvetching about girl problems. Locke’s single “My Only Drug” is one of those high-on-a-crush tunes with a chorus that won’t go away, and for the song’s video director Kyle Safieh ascended hilly Barnsdall Park, where the band and guest Lucy Walsh (Joe’s daughter and a songstress herself) seize the moment.
||| Live: Taylor Locke & the Roughs, along with Mike Viola and Bleu, play the Bootleg Bar on Friday night.
||| Previously: Interview with Taylor Locke; “Jenny” video.
Very fine review, thanks! Really been looking forward to this video- my favorite Roughs song and in my Top 5 fave of all songs from the past 5 years at least. It’s a real talent, plus hard work, to produce so many addictive songs in such a short span, and make it seem easy. And be such fun. Don’t just stop at this freebie video, ok? You gotta pick up Grain & Grape and Marathon to really get it. And if you can, you gotta see Taylor Locke & The Roughs perform Live. They are worth traveling well out of your way.