True bad men sling guitars.
Make no mistake, Nick Waterhouse is as bad as they come. The Cali born soul man comes to the office every night equipped with two Aretha Franklinesque back-up vocalist, a skilled lieutenant on the drums, a solid compadre on the keys and legendary baritone clean up hitter Moist Paula. Together this six piece Sex Pistol crew of a band knows how to dial up one thing: Swing.
Last Wednesday I went to Rough Trade to check out what all the buzz was about. Ten seconds into the show I was transported to a grittier, jazzier, more funktastic version of 60’s Motown. Comfortable in his delivery, Waterhouse and company bring a subtle and ever so cool riffed up R & B sound prevalent in the genres golden era. And as they eased the audience into a sultry trance with grace and ease, it only served as slow a set up. Cause as the set progressed, tracks like “If you want trouble” and “This is a game,” got the crowd thunderously shaking. In between, Waterhouse gave love to his talented bandmates so they could each breakdown what made them individuals, as later on dance competitions busted loose on the floor leaving all in attendance with big fat smiles on their beautiful mugs. By the time they dropped a cover of “Gloria” on Rough Trade it was game over.
If you’re looking for a band intimately familiar with the art of defining old school soul, look no further. Waterhouse and his band mates only know the way of igniting sweet sounding soul badness. Believe me, that’s a good thing.
Legendary Moist Paula
