Alabama Shakes

Hold On (Single) (Rough Trade)

Hail the rock gods, for groove is still alive.

While we are being constantly inundated with hipster rock posers, Alabama Shakes stand as an island in the sea of uncharismatic, uninteresting and extremely fashionable flannel wearing indie bands. Although having been compared to the likes of fellow modern blues rockers The Black Keys and Band of Skulls, in contrast to the former, Alabama Shakes tend to steer clear of indie rock cliché’s without alienating the younger audience that will no doubt finance the bands future endeavors.

To call Alabama Shakes an “Indie rock” band is to seriously underestimate the integrity that the band so obviously makes priority in everything they do.

The refreshingly unadulterated Blues/Rock song ‘Hold On’ feels exactly the way rock’n’roll should, gritty but pretty.

Despite denying comparisons to the ‘Soul Revival” movement, the dynamic vocals by which lead singer Brittany Howard preaches her ‘southern’ message will trick you into submission through smooth and creamy tone then catch you completely off guard with an almost violent vocal on slaughter reminiscent to that of early 50’s and 60’s soul singers such as Janis Joplin and Aretha, although once the band joins the party, the sound travels closer to resembling 90’s blues rockers The Black Crowes (without the ego).

The opening drums in this track unfortunately leaves an empty map for the rest of the song that could potentially deter many listeners, so when the muddy Gibson-esque guitar tones lay down some groovy foundations a few seconds later, it becomes an instant invitation into the bands solid bluesy identity. As slow as the intro may be, the elegant transition from soul ballad to gallivanting rock epic is so enticing and embracing that you could easily sacrifice an hour of your life indulging in the rest of the record.