Album reviews: Dusty Rhodes, Solomon’s Seal

Kevin Bronson on May 28th, 2009

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[Catching up on some recent local releases …]

Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, “Palace & Stage” (SideOneDummy) – Dustin Apodaca, Kyle Devine and bandmates show no signs of busting out of their 1970s time warp, and that’s a good and bad thing for the sextet’s muscular sophomore album. At its strongest – “Blind Lead the Blind,” “W.W.M.D.?” and the title track – the O.C. ensemble breathes some badly needed energy into Dad Rock, thanks to some whimsical storytelling and earnest opinion. Its blues-soul-rock cocktail overfloweth at other times, spilling overblown choruses and puddles of the strings and organs that gave the Dustys (to take the liberty of shortening the name) their charm in the first place. There’s plenty on “Palace & Stage” to like; it’s strange that with a little subtraction there could have been even more.

Solomon’s Seal, “The Sea, the Sea” (self-released) – Simon Petty has been in L.A. a decade now from his native London, winning fans fronting the criminally overlooked Minibar and making friends as a sideman for the likes of Pete Yorn. His solo project, named for a variety of lily with supposed medicinal qualities, soothes like a pot of herbal tea. His finger-picked ballads, stirred gently with tinkling piano and subtle atmospherics, reveal a songwriter in command of all his senses, including the good sense to practice restraint. Petty’s genteel melodies and billowy narration connect nature and the nature of emotions quite nicely, thank you; I’ll have another cup. Recommended.