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The Smokes make boozy, gritty, swampy rock ‘n roll music. Formerly known as Bourbon Jones and the Smokes, the band ditched the handle (and the whiteboy blues implications that came with it) but kept the raw power and sweaty live show they’re known for.
After spending a few years touring the West on their 1999 EP Tamano Del Rey, The Smokes are ready to release their first full-length album. 9 songs 4-5-6 is 40 minutes of tempered fury produced by Northwest savant (and former Smokes guitarist) Pat Kearns. Kearns is responsible for some of Oregon’s most powerful rock music music, with credits including the Exploding Hearts, the Nice Boys and Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons.
Driven by Robert Burnham’s understated songwriting, blue collar guitar and tobacco growl, The Smokes give a big nod to their forbears, but they don’t wallow in nostalgia. They take a blowtorch to stacks of dusty 45’s and LP’s, leaving behind misshapen, old-fashioned, and totally listenable hybrid. The music has the tube tones, analog warmth and grinding rhythms of classic radio rock like the Stones, T-Rex and CCR, the Cars’ singalong hooks and Warren Zevon’s ironic half-smirk. Where Burnham’s older work flirted with suit-and-shades blues, some of his new tunes border on country, revealing his reverence for outlaws like Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. Others have more in common with iconic late-70s punk acts like X or Iggy Pop. The Smokes roaring/bluesy/twangy set has earned them opening slots for cult-punkers like Sylvain Sylvain (of the New York Dolls) but is equally capable of endearing them to the No Depression crowd.
Fans of minimalism will appreciate the Smokes’ ethics –nary a guitar solo appears on 9 songs 4-5-6. Instead, keyboardist Mark Breitenbach delivers some of the grittiest Fender Rhodes you’ll hear this decade. Seth Gibson’s Motown bass rumble and Adam Alcala’s disciplined drums lay down thick as yestearday’s grits, never overstepping their bounds, never underplaying. The Smokes are old friends and have been sharing music for years, putting up with each other on the road and giving each other the feedback it takes to become a cohesive, well-schooled rock band. They were tight enough to record their latest album live, and as A & E writers across the west coast will attest, they put on a hell of a show.
The Smokes will release 9 Songs 4-5-6 in late 2007, followed by a spring tour of the West Coast and Midwest.
Robert Burnham-Guitar and Vocals
Adam Alcala-Drums and Vocals
Mark Breittenbach-Keys and Vocals
Seth Gibson-Bass
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