Saving The Sax Solo From The Scrap Heap
The missing posters may not have been plastered everywhere, the television appeals might not have been rammed down your throat but there’s been something missing in music for nearly twenty years now. Last seen being mistreated by wannabe cool bands of the 80s who misused and exploited it in the vain hope of appearing sophisticated and hip, the sax solo has been AWOL from the music scene ever since. Well, that was until Brooklyn based The Ladybug Transistors got their little mitts on it and endeavoured to rejuvenate it for all the trendy kids who missed it first time round, with the slight difference through that these guys actually come close to making it seem as cool as a Van Halen guitar solo.
Capturing a feeling of film noir darkness and sleekness, ‘Always On The Telephone’ astonishingly pivots on the verge of being complete genius and an utter cheese fest as guitar riffs akin to The Shadows (if they’d done away with wannabe National Treasure Cliff Richard and gained some of The Fonz’s cool) dance around Gary Olson’s sombre clad baritone, creating a track that sounds like its drop out of the 80’s by way of the 50’s packaged snugly with a surf style guitar and smoky jazz club sax. Yes, everything’s been thrown into the pot and then The Ladybug Transistors have stood back to see what happens and frankly it’s a strangely engaging mix that you’ll either love for its weirdness or detest simply because its dared to breathe live back into the sax solo • for some people there’s just no excuse for such behaviour.