THE INSOMNIACS "LEFT COAST BLUES" Source: Blues Wax Date: 0/12008 Writer: Kyle M. Palarino

No Sleeper Here

WAKE UP! The Insomniacs haven?t been sleepin?, that?s for sure. The Portland, Oregon, group has that West Coast Swing sound down pat, performing tight numbers with original songwriting. With Left Coast Blues Delta Groove has added another tasty morsel to their already impressive catalog.

The group is lead by Vyasa Dodson on vocals and guitar. He is in his mid-twenties and has the chops down with a pretty decent voice. You can hear the youth, but in the vibrant music it is suiting. Dodson also wrote the majority of the songs on the album. Despite his lack of years he is making up for it in by gaining experience. The guitar solos are carefully put together and played favoring flavor over speed.

Alex Shakeri handles the keys and brings soft bouncing solos to the group. Dean Mueller bops the bass lines with a straight-on precision. Rounding out these sleepless wonders is Dave Melyan on the drum stool. Melyan rides the beats, pushing the music forward through each song.

While the West Coast sound is getting recorded on a regular basis, especially by Delta Groove, the sound is still fresh when it?s done right. The Insomniacs are a welcome addition to the list of Pacific Coasters. The grooves are in the vein of the Mannish Boys, but the Insomniacs have there own sound and words. The playing is well placed and songwriting has a beyond-their-years flare.

These baggy-eyed gents have studied the sounds of Hollywood Fats and Junior Watson, as well as the Chicago giants of the Fifties. The Jump Blues artists such as Roy Brown, Big Joe Turner, and Jimmy Rushing are also hinted at through the album. All these influences swirl together to create a tasty and appetizing sound.
The disc?s opener, ?Stick Around,? is a highlight of the album right from the start. The West Coast shuffle jumps out of this song and gets your boogie shoes on. ?Serves Me Right? just gets on a lazy ?drivin? down the boulevard with the top down? feel. When things slow down on ?Stuttering Blues,? you sympathize with Dodson and his horribly effective stuttered singin?. He hits the song dead on. The brushes stroke the snare drum while the tinkling piano and guitar fills create just enough tension to fill out the slow churning song.

For a funky instrumental with organic pumps check out the ?Crime Scene.? Shakeri really floats on the ivories on ?I?ll Treat You Right.? The guitar riff on ?Shake The Chandelier? gets the stop-time rhythm started until solo time, when the song eases up and takes its time to develop like a fine wine. There are two bonus tracks that are live recordings from the movie premier for ?What Love Is.? Both songs are very high quality recordings that fit right into place on the album.

For such a young group of musicians, the music here is very mature. If this is a start for these guys then they will have plenty of years to look forward to and so do we. This album is a safe bet for any West Coast Blues fan. There are no wasted notes and the music breathes with the palm trees. Unwrap and enjoy.

Kyle M. Palarino is a contributing editor at BluesWax. You may contact Kyle at blueswax@visnat.com.