Leopold and His Fiction – "Aint No Surprise"
This is our first local album review and it is an honor and pleasure to review Leopold and His Fiction’s new record, “Ain’t No Surprise.” If you aren’t familiar with Leopold, you haven’t been paying much attention to the local blues-rock scene in the city. Daniel James fronts the three man group that can be compared to a hybrid of Ledbelly, The White Stripes and Iggy and the Stooges. Daniel originally hails from the Motor City so it can be easy to say the band relies heavily on the Detroit garage sound that was made so famous in the late 70’s. That’s partially true…the band does have a lot of garage-rock sensibilities, but on “Ain’t No Surprise”, James exposes a darker and broader collection of work that surpasses anything he’s done previously. Such evidence can be found from the opening notes of “One For Me To Find”, the outstanding lead-off track which sounds like a lost Johnny Cash song recently dug out of the vault. Daniel tells a tale of lost love and redemption that would surely make the Man in Black proud. Elsewhere you’ll find dashes of psychedelic pop on the carousel rocker “Come Back (Now That I’m Here)” and the blissful “Tiger Lily.” The stomping blues-rockers fans have come to be familiar with are still here but they have been elevated to a much bigger level. Blistering guitars riffs ring throughout the stand-out track “Broke”, but it is the Doorsesque keyboard layers that really lock in the track. Daniel’s latest additions to the band, the gorgeous Micayla Grabe on bass and the pounding Jon Sortland on drums have been able to really give the band a “full” sound, something that translates perfectly to the band’s energetic and memorable live performances. “Aint No Surprise” feels like a garage record, rest assurd, but it doesn’t sound like three stoners playing next to your mom’s minivan. This is a seasoned group of musicians playing some of the rawest rock and roll on the west coast and judging from the bands opening slots with Little Joy and The Detroit Cobras, the public is starting to take notice. Listen to “One For Me To Find”, “Broke” and “Aint No Surprise”
- Skeet
