Music Review: No Country For Old Musicians by Reggie and the Full Effect

Reggie is a ninja.

That was my first thought upon listening to his new release, No Country For Old Musicians. That was what I tweeted, and that will be the thesis statement around which this review is built.

A review does seem in order. I already did a general review in April, and I will see the concert, which should lead to a concert review, in February, so it could be overkill. However, the April review has been getting page hits lately, which I suspect is because of the new release, so there is interest. Also, I want to talk about it. I did the Kickstarter; I am invested in this!

So the first ninja thing about Reggie is something that I have kind of hit on before, in that while on the surface things are very silly, there is serious talent and skill and effort beneath. Because of this, he can catch you off guard. Yes, this is one musician (James Dewees) with a lot of friends playing around and having fun, which is great, but that is not all it is.

What this leads to is that maybe you are smiling and having a good time, and there is nothing wrong with that, but then you find yourself later singing about wizards throwing apples at you, without having expected that result.

Again, I am familiar with his work; I should know that it goes like that, but first you hear the song on one level, and then it hits you later - that is a perfect Run DMC beat; that was some pretty righteous shredding there, and those keyboards!

It was actually more impressive having followed along with the Kickstarter, because there were lots demos and previews, and yet with as much as was familiar, it still sounded so different. I remember the demo for "Sundae, Booty Sundae", but then hearing the polishing and refining that goes into it casts a new light on everything. It makes me appreciate the studio process more, and the process of moving from the conception of a song to the final presentation of a song more, but also there is Robo-Fonzie, and wondering what would happen if he met Henry Winkler.

There are those things sneaking up on you, but there is another stealth level as well, which is that there always seems to be something that packs an emotional punch as well. And sure, you would expect it to be "Disregard", because the title totally implies that it could go that way, and it has those haunting melodies. But no, the one that caught me, completely off guard, was "Kanji Tattoos...Still in Style???". It went right to my heart, and I did not know what hit me.

So you may think that when James Dewees is in black it is because of his musical roots, or practical considerations like how it is slimming and hides dirt, but maybe he's just a ninja.

No Country For Old Musicians is available through the usual spots, like Amazon and iTunes. Also, you can find tour dates at http://reggie.frontgatetickets.com/.