Kicking off with a toe-tapping rock rhythm, ‘I Sold My Soul To Rock & Roll’ gets acclaimed performer Philip Rambow’s new EP, Love & Rock, off to a solid start. There’s an energy that almost vibrates through the entire track, so much so that it’s hard for a listener not to be drawn in after just a few seconds and it’s a song that’s sure to find itself, or at least deserves to be put, on repeat.
‘Love Is A Hard Time’, originally released in 1981, slows things down a little, but maintains the tight musicianship of its predecessor, blending it well with a smooth, rather soulful vocal – this reviewer for one fought hard to keep herself from swaying along in front of family members!
Having established himself over the past few decades as an artist who can easily switch up genres and styles, Rambow continues to prove this point via ‘Love Is The Answer’ however, it’s also the weakest song on the four track collection, largely in part due to the fact it plays like more of a spoken word piece than an actual song. At close to six minutes in length, it’s also far longer than it needs to be.
Closer ‘This Modern Age’ has quite the story behind it and was originally planned for release as a follow up to 1975’s ‘Dem Eyes.’ Instead, heard today, it comes across as somewhat psychedelic and may therefore risk being turned off by those who are not big fans of the style, but for those that are, and especially for those who love an interesting guitar riff, it’ll surely be a winner.
Quite an eclectic set of songs, the Love & Rock EP may find itself being judged as far from the best collection Rambow has put out over the years, however, given his longevity and his undeniable passion for what he does, he deserves to be somewhat commended for continuing to surprise music fans with what he puts out while at the same time staying true to himself and the career he began to carve out all those years ago.
The Love & Rock EP is out on February 9th on RDJ Recordings.
