Lick And A Promise: Come Together In The Morning

It's hard to believe that this Black Crowes and Rolling Stones inspired semi acoustic bunch, who also have the swagger of Aerosmith, which isn't a surprise when you consider their name is a 'Smith's song, hail from Germany. So convincing is the American drawl of singer Jochen W. Thoma and the easy going rock and roll, that you'd swear this bunch were brought up on the Sunset Strip. Debuting back in 2006 with the more electric based album A Bitch Is A Bitch, L&AP followed that up with a semi acoustic EP and I presume that they were so smitten with their new sound, that album number two Come Together In The Morning follows in that vein. Now I must admit that I haven't heard either of those two earlier efforts, but the twelve songs that have been put together this time are so struttingly assured, yet comfortable in their own skin, that I just can't imagine this band any other way, they really do sound like they were born to play this type of simple yet effective rock and roll.

There's a real sense of fun that emanates from all the tracks on this disc, with the more electric based "Come Together" (not a Beatles cover), with its bouncing cowbell and jangly riff just bounding out of the speakers, making even the most left footed of people don their dancing shoes! Thoma is a real star with his crystal clear vocals, that sit somewhere between Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes) and Robert Plant, but the guitar is king on this album, even if it never gets above a gentle strum very often, with Manuel Elsesser creating some simply charming, hook laden tracks. Dip into Come Together... at any point and you'll be sure to have your foot tapping and head nodding as the joyously melodic, summery tones of "Hey Hey Hello", "Throw It All Away", or "Pale White" take the worst of days and turn them into relaxing carefree romps. Volker Thoma on bass and organ and Ulli Bieber on drums are a perfect fit for this upbeat, feel good music, as they keep things thumping along nicely in a way that is unfussy, or flashy, and they certainly sound like they are having a great time doing it, with their rhythms adding to the infectious nature of the music.

Lick And A Promise do wear their influences proudly on their sleeves, but it's done so damn well that it is nigh on impossible not just to be swept up in the good time grooves, hell the closing track "Places Of The Soul" even adds a convincing dose of Zeppelin circa III to the mix. Come Together In The Morning is a joy from start to finish and even on the gloomiest of days can easily add a little summer sun to your life and who can turn that down?

Track Listing
1. Dance For Me
2. Hey Hey Hello
3. The Highway
4. Pale White
5. Loser And A Fool
6. Once For Real
7. Come Together
8. Throw It All Away
9. Sway Again
10. Sometime
11. Hard To Say Goodbye
12. Places Of The Soul

Added: March 18th 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Lick And A Promise Band Camp
Hits: 2005
Language: english

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