Apparently, we just can’t get over the ’60s. It seems as if everywhere we go nowadays the piercing gaze of Don Draper, the inexplicable sex appeal of skinny ties, and an eerily reminiscent women’s rights movement follows us. Keeping closely in line with the trend of flashback culture comes Huntington Beach native Nick Waterhouse, whose Buddy Holly-esque rhythm and blues tunes make you wonder why the era ever had to end. To throw in some of my favorite jargon of the period, this guy is swell.
Waterhouse’s newest release, “Some Place,” leaves nothing to be desired with its saxophone-led assembly of a two-piece horn section, drums, and piano. Waterhouse’s gritty and alluring vocals (which are really more a form of musical shouting) give you a hint as to why this kind of music was considered so scandalous when it first originated — the way it makes you move, this is a song that doesn’t belong at any neighborhood sock hops.
With “Some Place” and the rest of Time’s All Gone (out May 1, 2012), we are presented with throwback R&B sans any sense of the expected cheesy reproduced feel. The album’s beauty lies in its lack of polish — Waterhouse isn’t copying any of the R&B greats here, he is straight up channeling them. Not only is he an extremely skillful musician, but even listening through crappy, low quality speakers it is impossible to miss his sheer enjoyment of the music he is producing. I’ll definitely be keeping this guy on my radar — after all, the effect of Waterhouse’s jazzy tunes is probably the closest to feeling accepted by the “fast crowd” any of us will ever come (are we sick of my mid-century lingo yet?).