Cashed Fools Album Review
written by Taco
When I first saw that Neal Evans, otherwise known as “Fro”, was playing drums for another band, I have to admit, I was slightly distraught. I could not imagine Dopapod blowing my mind without his ever present drumming throughout their shows. I had popped over to his Facebook page to send him a message and saw that he was the drummer for Cashed Fools. I grabbed my phone and sent him a message, asking if he was leaving the band or was this just some vicious hoax being perpetrated by CMT in hopes of destroying one of the last vestiges of truly original and genuine music. It was neither!
Fro told me the band was a long standing side project of his. Despite my breathing a sigh of relief I was equally intrigued by what Fro was telling me. The thought of another “Fro Band” is always a good idea in my mind so we began making plans to get together during his next stop through Baltimore with Dopapod.
When Fro pulled into Baltimore he hit me up and told me to get down to the 8×10. After a sound check that was nothing short of spectacular we shot up the street to Blue Agave for crab queso and tacos. Kind of fitting for two guys named Fro and Taco to be eating crab queso and tacos whilst discussing Cashed Fools new album, but again I digress. The best news was Fro giving me the opportunity to review some crunchy new tunes from Cashed Fools new self-titled album being released next week, December 10th.
When Fro described Cashed Fools sound as “Bluesadelic Funkacide” he pretty much nailed it down in two words. While I would be wary of calling it “jam” music, it is a hard edged rock sound that certainly does jam! The first track, Madness, explodes with Fro’s drumming and SteveO McNeveo’s guitar pounding away-O! Steve-O actually builds his own brand of guitars named Balkun Guitars, www.balkunguitars.com, lending to his own unique tone. The bass line then finds you and begins to move you with a sway through the introductory instrumentation. Madness then takes on a life of its own when the sultry vocals takes center stage and transports you to another world where the significance of time and musical genres cease to exist.
The next two tracks, Hobble Bobble and Way It Is, make me feel like roller skating. Not because I am or ever really was an avid roller skater, but because when I did go roller skating the skating rink was full of people looking to have a good time while still moving fast and mellow simultaneously. The songs are reminiscent of a time when guys drove American muscle cars and the girls were more than happy to make them look good.
The next two tracks, Hold On Me and New Heavy are a joyous rollercoaster ride through what music should always be–fun! Hold On Me takes you through some sultry licks while flirting with something heavier just around the corner, enter New Heavy! This song rips your face off, it doesn’t even waste time melting. New Heavy goes straight for the throat and certainly makes you wonder if Cashed Fools music is able to be defined or have simply created their own genre.
The album then moves steadily right back into what Cashed Fools does best, rocks you lyrically and musically leading to a rarely seen but highly sought after remarkability. From Fursdjam another turn is taken with Double Decker Party Trolley. This song really makes you hope and wish that rock music would start moving in the same direction. Joined by Scott Flynn of Elephant Wrecking Ball/ John Browns Body and Greg Sanderson of Turkuaz on horns, this song as well as the guitar licks would make you finger the funk but again, by the last two minutes of the song you find so much more hiding within.
The final two songs, Don’t Mind and the appropriately placed Cashed again put the bands ability to take risks out on the center stage. There is a ferocity throughout Don’t Mind that make you wonder what these guys are really up to. You never get that reassurance in Cashed. Cashed seemingly takes you through what Cashed Fools is about musically and leaves you unsatisfied. However, the lack of satisfaction felt is only because these guys leave you wanting more. I suspect that if Black Sabbath, Cream, Steppenwolf, Miles Davis and Sly and The Family Stone were all stuck on an island with a recording studio and psychedelics at their disposal, Cashed Fools would be their collective vision of what they would have all really liked to have done musically…
SteveO McNeveo – Guitar/Lead Vocals
FRO! – Drums
Dantonio Africano – Bass/Back-up Vocals
Nicholas Balkun – Percussion/The Cashed Fool
