PLAYGROUND BOSTON

For our readers, if you haven’t been to a performance by The Dirty Truckers, you are missing out on one of the finest musical experiences in Boston. Yes, I know that’s a big statement, but being a fan of rock & roll music, I do rate it up there with Symphony Hall. It’s just one of those things you’ve got to do in this town.

Featuring Tom Baker on lead vocals and guitar, The Dirty Truckers bring to the scene a great mix of top notch, American rock songs – complete with John Lynch’s pounding drums, Jamie Griffith’s virtuous bass lines, and Baker’s lyrical storytelling, topped off with a sparkling twang of guitarist John Brookhouse’s home grown, almost country, lead guitar lines.

Photo by Nicole Tammaro - www.nicoletammaro.com

At their show at TT the Bear’s Place on July 16th, I was surprised to see Brookhouse not sporting his usual Telecaster that until now I’ve attributed as his signature sound. However, the strange looking Crazy Dean did the trick in his seasoned hands as each line rose over the solo section in every song to bring the same catchy leads that I’ve come to expect from such a fine guitarist. Also impressive was his ability to adjust from the smooth, riding leads behind the vocals to the dangerous bite of a feral animal in such songs as “Feedback,” where Brookhouse took center stage as ferociously as any arena rocker.

Brookhouse’s other talent that shines forth in a most impressive manner are his background vocals, because he seems to display onstage an endearing shyness that adds to a very unassuming mastery of pitch and volume. After switching back to his Tele, the band plays “Boston Wrangler,” in which Brookhouse’s vocals climb over the top of every chorus to texturize Baker’s almost-shouted melodies; the aftereffect is a meandering sense of solidarity that just adds to the catchiness of each lyric.

Photo by Nicole Tammaro - www.nicoletammaro.com

That is not to say that the band isn’t full of great background vocalists. In “3 Weeks to Go,” drummer Lynch manages to lean over to the mic during every chorus to supplement the title line in battle-cry fashion without missing a single attack on his kit. I am a little biased here, as Lynch is one of my favorite Boston drummers. Anyone who can appreciate a good percussionist will easily see in every one of Lynch’s performances a spellbinding control over the height, speed, and dynamic of each limb over the other as one hand ruthlessly bashes the snare drum, while the other hand caresses and manipulates the cymbal. The real treat is knowing that every fill, build, and stop is perfectly appropriate and executed with excellent meter. Audiences can expect to have their heads bobbing.

However, picking apart such a band as solid as The Dirty Truckers starts to seem a little superfluous when you take a look around the room to see smiling faces, dancing feet, and closed eyes. It’s a party, and I can see with all of their bouncing, danceable, bass parts, steadfast drumming, lustrous guitars, and accessible melodies and lyrics, the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. For a good time, call The Dirty Truckers.

Catch the Dirty Truckers for yourself on August 8th at the Midway Cafe in JP!

The Dirty Truckers

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