Songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist neo-soul artist Andy Platts had a(nother) busy year in 2018. The ’70s L.A. studio sounds of Young Gun Silver Fox, a collaboration with producer and artist Shawn Lee, released AM Waves – their follow-up to the startling period-piece West End Coast. The stellar AM Waves expanded their R&B vision beyond the “yacht rock” monicker often assigned the smooth, analog soul and blue-eyed soul acts, backed by a crack array of studio musicians. AM Waves was a more eclectic mix created by just a handful of musicians.
Connected to his home band Mamas Gun, Platts’ near-endless ability to generate delicious R&B hooks alone or in collaboration, heavily influenced by the soul and R&B greats of the last 60 years, is coupled by crisp production, eclectic ideas, and a unified band. Together, they crank out unique, organic R&B “hit” after “hit.” It’s an album that sounds as if first created on the road together and alloyed in the studio, rather than Young Gun Silver Fox’s L.A. studio paradigm.
The “together” here is a group of session musicians / bandmates / troubadours / collaborating songwriters that includes David Oliver and his bag of keyboard tricks, acclaimed guitarist Terry Lewis, Chris Boot on drums, and Cameron Dawson (bass) in addition to Platts lead vocals, keyboard, guitar, percussion. Horns are courtesy of Dominic Glover and Andy Ross. Mamas Gun’s fourth-album offering Golden Days was self-produced and mixed by the able hands of Young Gun Silver Fox partner Shawn Lee to create a well-balanced space where the album thrives as a cornucopia of sounds explore each song.
Golden Days is like a box of chocolates, except, after the first few tracks, we know what we’re going to get: shimmering melodies, deep hooks, next-level playing, the distinctiveness of each composition, the organic musicianship that fits and integrates together like the flavors of a slow-cooked gumbo. Golden Days is an album that crackles, changes pace, infuses eclectic energy, yet the album is never in a hurry.
Opening track “You Make My Life a Better Place” is an uplifting ode to the joy of parenthood and family-hood, a ray of light in a complex world. It begins with just vocals and piano, then bursts into a catchy shuffle. The chord progressions shift effortlessly between minor and major sevenths, and then modulates into one of Andy Platts’ and Mamas Gun soaring bridges / middle eights in falsetto. It’s almost unfair.
A slick snare, hi hat, and kick drum intro ushers in Van Morisson-esque horns in the up-tempo “On the Wire,” a balancing act through the chaos of life executed with vigor over a stable well executed rhythm section”
Have you made up your mind
Have you made a decision?
Is it pleasure or pain?
If you’ve got static and hype
Like a broke television
Screwing your alpha waves
Move, fix your eyes on the horizon ahead
Play it right, don’t lose your step
On the wire
The hooks and great bass lines just keep on a comin’ in “I Need a Win,” a song that received some internet-radio play. The balance and space among the instruments and musicians highlight this tasty composition. A ’60s R&B vibrato guitar kicks off eclectic ear candy in the aptly named “Diamond in the Bell Jar.” A scrumptious chorus and trumpet solo are the tooth-decaying nougat center of this treat.
“London Girls” infuses modern energy into a Swing Out Sister scamper that was never released by Swing Out Sister. The beat spurts, countering an energetic call and response, and yet another beautifully mic’d drum track. Despite the furious momentum and busy shuffle, the listener can hear every instrument and sound, every nuance – before an unexpected, warped guitar solo rocks your world.
We appear to catch our breath for a moment with the seemingly simpler “The Spooks,” before yet another high-glycemic index chorus brings the realization that we’ve been trolled again. “The Spooks” reminds me of Silk Sonic’s excellent Earth Wind and Fire tribute “Blast Off” in an other worldly way, but just a bit less cute.
On “We,” we the listeners get way deep into the Golden Days tracks and I’m wondering “How? Freakin’ how?” How do Platts and Mamas Gun dig deep again and again into the R&B cavalcade of time and conjure track after track of unique, satisfying music? And you better believe that the killer chorus, with a light Kool and the Gang touch, is followed by yet another modulation into another Neil Finn- or Donald Fagen-level bridge.
A triumph of horns introduces the title track “Golden Days,” setting us up for more chocolatey melodies and a meaty chorus, with a sneak peek back at Atlantic Records R&B albums where placement of the mics and space were incredibly precise, especially with the rhythm section and vocals. Yet, Mamas Gun throws in a scattering of Easter eggs throughout the tracks. Is that a flute having a conversation with the bass and blues guitar?
Yawn, yet another masterpiece of R&B songwriting and recording on “Strangers on the Street.” The album finishes with a lo-fi version of “This is the Day,” as if members of Mamas Gun sympathize with the theobromine OD the avid listener has just experienced.
But for those already hooked, there is the quintessential band version of “This is the Day,” this palate-cleansing reminder of the awesomeness of the Golden Days platter we have been served. A perfect vision of Mamas Gun’s alchemy. Enjoy.
- The Unforgettable Mamas Gun Gem Tucked Away on Their ‘Room Service’ EP - November 5, 2022
- Young Gun Silver Fox – ‘Ticket to Shangri-La’ (2022) - October 24, 2022
- Mamas Gun – ‘Golden Days’ (2018): On Second Thought - August 31, 2022
