It takes some bands just a few weeks, even days to jump into a recording studio. Others, like Denver Colorado trio Two Faces West it takes years to come up with a debut album. In their case, it took ten years to release their debut one, Postcards From Lonely Places.
They did have a previous EP (By the Book), and a couple of singles and some extensive touring along the way.
It was probably the intention of Kurt Ashmore (Vocals, Guitar, Saxophone, Banjo), Mick Knudsen (Drums, Backing Vocals), and Vince Carmellini (Bass, Backing Vocals, Organ) to hone their art before the went for 11 studio and one live track here. Still, their reasoning for that might be quite clear.
Getting the funky combination of guitar rock and R&B they present here might seem simple to achieve but is very often quite hard to get right as it requires excellent playing skills and, of course, some, good, solid songwriting to be able to reach a level of the likes of The Black Keys, ZZ Top and other high-quality bands and artist operating within similar musical coordinates.
And, frankly, it has paid off for these three guys. With the addition of horns, here and there (“Ain’t Got A Clue”), the trio has their sound down to a pat with some excellent guitar and vocal from Ashmore leading the way.
Sometimes it is not the point of doing something revolutionary with your music but doing it to a point of excellence, and Two Faces West often does here.
