CD Reviews

The Subdudes

Street Symphony | High Street

By BRETT MILANO | September 12, 2007

3.0 Stars

Most of the major New Orleans bands have weighed in with a Katrina song by now; but the Subdudes’ “Poor Man’s Paradise” is among the first to suggest that things just might be all right. The band make it work by celebrating what’s still around — even if that’s only a transistor radio playing Fats Domino. Their trademark harmonies put across the low-key, life-affirming feel, and the song winds up sounding just as timely and as necessary as the harsher ones that other locals have written. That’s not to say the Subdudes don’t show some teeth. “Thorn in Her Side” is one of their few specific protest songs, and a good one: the lyrics touch on everything from immigration to Iraq before going for the punch with “How about taking care of our own, like the people down South drownin’ in their homes?” It wouldn’t be a Subdudes album without a couple of accordion-led tunes or a soul ballad, but producer George Massenburg (Linda Ronstadt/Little Feat) brings out less familiar aspects of the band, from the gospel-styled “Brother Man”

Subdudes, "Fountain of Youth" (mp3)
Subdudes, " Poor Man's Paradise" (mp3)

to a near–Fleetwood Mac groove on “Fairweather Friend.” It could as easily be about an ex-lover as about our current president.

Related: The ‘x’ factor, New Orleans notes, Flashbacks, More

Topics: CD Reviews , Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Fats Domino, More

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