Stuck In The Past

My current obsession with Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears got me to thinking about the number of records released in the last couple of years that are entirely stuck in the past. In a good way.

This is dangerous territory for a band. Any time you base your sound on a time that passed somewhere north of 30 years ago, you run a risk of being written off as something of a novelty all too soon - it's like being a covers band even as you write your own stuff. While the likes of Richard Hawley and the Felice Brothers have nailed it, there are plenty of bands like The Darkness out there to serve as cautionary tales. But here are five records I think get right.

By the way, all these are off debut albums except the Bellrays, who always mixed a bit of soul into their garage rock but really brought through the Motown sound on Have A Little Faith.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Sugarfoot (Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! 2009)

Pete Molinari - It Came Out of the Wilderness (A Virtual Landslide, 2008)

She & Him - I Was Made For You (Volume One, 2008)

Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - Am I Wasting My Time (Roll With You, 2008)

The Bellrays - Third Time's A Charm (Have A Little Faith, 2006)