GRACE BOWERS & THE HODGE PODGE: WINE ON VENUS ( REVIEW)
Admittedly I am late to the party on this one. The debut album from teenage guitar hero Grace Bowers and her Hodge Podge band has been available to stream since August, with an initial vinyl run starting in November. A cd release, my preferred format, is scheduled for later this month with a second vinyl run coming in March. As much as I like to sing the praises of owning music on a physical format, it’s hard to deny the vast amount of music that is now available to all of us in the streaming era. With a seemingly infinite sea of choices, it’s easy to miss new artists, even in the genres you dig. However, now that I have found out about Grace Bowers and the Hodge Podge, I intend to spread the word, starting here with readers of Now Spinning Magazine.
The record fades into existence with the instrumental “Won No Teg,” slowly building before leading to the album’s true opening number, “Get On Now.” The musicality of the band is emphasised throughout with funky rhythm guitars marinating over an airtight rhythm section. Esther Okai-Tetteh, the band’s primary vocalist, steps up to the mike with a voice that recalls the late Sharon Jones. She brings sass and soul to her performance leading the group into a horn punctuated chorus. The excellent sing along choruses are one of the defining strengths of this party ready debut. Around the halfway mark of “Get On Now, the vocals disappear, and the band lays into a steamy groove gumbo. As the players simmer along as a unified force of funk, one instrument begins to emerge from the stew. Grace Bower’s powerful lead guitar, another of the album’s defining strengths, comes through with an intense walls of Jericho tumbling solo, sounding like Carlos Santana possessed by the spirit of Eddie Hazel.
“Tell Me Why U Do That,” is the album’s lead single, and with good reason. It opens with a hard hitting riff that would have James Brown howling, “good God,” before dropping into the splits on stage. Okai-Tetteh sings “You might not be clean, but you sure clean up,” to the song’s scruffy but alluring subject. A snappy chorus and a rippin’ guitar break will get your foot a tappin’ and your head a boppin’, as you surrender to an oh so irresistible groove. This thing is a fully funk-tional certified banger slathered and dripping in roof raising soul.
“Tell Me Why U Do That” segues effortlessly into the hard funk of “Holdin’ On to Something.” If this was the kind of music that you could still hear on your local radio station, there is no way any disc jockey could resist playing these two songs together, the way you always hear Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker” followed by “Living Loving Maid,” or Van Halen’s “Eruption” followed by their cover of “You Really Got Me.”
“Madame President” keeps the party going with a hard times anthem of perseverance. The realism of the verses give way to a chorus of spiky optimism, reminding us that “what stays the same is everything is bound to change.” The lyric, “maybe while I’m still alive we’ll see a madame president,” can’t help but resonate coming, fresh off an exhausting US election, where such a milestone almost became a reality.
It took a few lessons to catch my ear, but “Lucy,” is a chance to hear the young band playing with their sound. The song itself has the Hodge Podge slowing the pace delivering two distinct but equally laid back musical sections. These two parts are bridged with a scintillating guitar solo from Bowers.
Serving as the album’s penultimate track (not counting the brief organ interlude “Mookie’s Blues) is a well executed cover of Sly & the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music,” allowing the group to pay tribute to one of their primary musical influences.
The album’s gospel influenced title track takes the listener into an interstellar afterlife, where Grace, Okai-Tetteh, and the rest of the group will be found drinking “wine on Venus,” hanging their “feet off the edge,” “dipping their toes in the stars.” They promise a place where hangovers no longer exist and where the “angels don’t care if you go all night long.” For the song’s guitar solo we get to hear Bowers at her bluesiest, pointing the way to the song’s wistful and stirring conclusion.
“Wine On Venus,” does exactly what a first record should. It showcases a young group confident in their sound, while still wearing their influences proudly on their sleeves. It’s a record that establishes them as a competent and exceptionally promising band. With opening tour slots for Gary Clark Jr. and the Tedeschi Trucks Band in the coming year, Grace Bowers and the Hodge Podge are in the perfect position to continue exploring their sound, as they strive to develop their own unique musical voice.
Justin Griffin | Now spinning Magazine