Rock 'n' roll is not what it used to be. But don't tell that to Fort Worth's Quaker City Night Hawks, whose debut album, ¡Torquila Torquila!, is clearly from another time—a time when there was nothing better than a drive down a dusty road with a cigarette in your mouth, the top off your Firebird Trans Am and Creedence Clearwater Revival on the radio.
QCNH invoke all of these feelings with their brand of blues-infused boogie rock.
Fort Worth scene veterans Sam Anderson and Matt Mabe handle the singing duties as well as rhythm guitar and drums, respectively, while Patrick Adams and David Matsler handle bass and lead guitar. And the band is clearly well-versed when it comes to the blues. "Crack at the Bottle" features the classic 12-bar blues form with an AAB lyrics structure delivered by Anderson's smoky vocals. "Hounds of Hell," meanwhile, calls upon the great Delta bluesman Robert Johnson with its death-is-always-on-my-tail theme.
The straight-forward Southern rock of "Bible Black Lincoln" continues that theme and paints a picture of a devil who will "put a pistol to your head about the time you think you got him beat."
With ¡Torquila Torquila!, Quaker City Night Hawks have created an album that is both relevant and timeless. This is rock 'n' roll.
