Happy Curmudgeons – 2nd Chances
Happy Curmudgeons – 2nd Chances – Album Review
These dudes have been workin’ on this record for a minute or two!
If you’ve been following along with our pages and postings, you’d have seen the first singles from this record pop up as Happy Curmudgeons continued to shape the album in the background. Tracks like “I Know How You Feel” originally surfaced in press releases here in 2021, and “All On You” appeared the year afterwards – both tracks are on 2nd Chances, so you can tell they’ve put a lot of effort & time into their brand-new album. As it should be folks! These things aren’t just supposed to snap together.
When I pushed play on 2nd Chances, and “Reluctant Prophets” started up, I immediately felt like all that they’ve put into this was well worth it. I freakin’ LOVE the very first line in this song and the way singer Dave Hamilton sings it – “You have the patience of Job” – I believe that’s what’s being sung, ain’t it? Hopefully I’ve got that right. Seems like it’d be a good fit into a song like “Reluctant Prophets” so I’m going with that. There’s so much going right in this opening track though, it practically had my head spinning…like…Happy Curmudgeons have about five or six quality hooks threaded into this track that other artists/bands would have built entire songs around, as opposed to finding them all featured within one tune. I’m all about it! It’s like stacked up entertainment that continually gets better and better. Some of the harmonies they’ve got on “Reluctant Prophets” melt into the music like they’re made of pure butter…the vocals on this track, whether attacking the verses with bold emphasis, or using a more gentle approach for the hooks when singing with guest-star Vaughn Mortimer, they’ve got’em all locked down tightly. To think that there’s so much kickassery goin’ on in the music behind’em, is nothing short of amazing. Seriously folks – you’re gonna listen to the vocals like most listeners do at the start, but once you start to dial in on the rest of what’s happening, you’ll be equally impressed by how much personality the guitars in this song display. It’s just great songwriting when it all comes down to it…piece by piece, they put together a winner here.
While you’d THINK that it’d be a bit of a risk to start your album with a featured guest-star singer, these wonderfully Happy Curmudgeons instantly prove they’ve got more than enough to succeed on their own as you listen to Amy Dixon-Lavery sing their brilliantly charming title-track to follow. Love the glow in the organ they’ve got in the background, love what the rhythm section is doing to produce such a magnificently smooth tune, love, love, LOVE the guitar solo in this song as well, in addition to thinking that the lead and backing vocals were an absolutely seamless fit too. “2nd Chances” has a very old-school throwback feel to it, like it’s part “Thank You” by Led Zeppelin & partly a gentler spin on something like “Sweet Home Alabama” at the same time. Personally, I think it’s an exceptional combination of sounds that contain a boatload of that good-good accessibility listeners connect to. I also love moments like these where you can hear an influence, but it’s not necessarily the dominant trait…so you get this like, combination of what’s familiar, reinvented to become something new to us all. Personally, I think that, for a low-key and mellower vibe like what you’ll hear on “2nd Chances,” Happy Curmudgeons could verifiably use this slow jam as a single, and it’d likely have no problem at all drawing people in just as strongly as any upbeat song could ever do. Again, it’s about patience, it’s about confidence in the material, it’s about finding the right pieces that work, and it’s about executing with professionalism – Happy Curmudgeons check every box for a win with “2nd Chances” and deliver a marvellous performance that I’d bet everyone will truly appreciate. Is that a genuine cello in the mix? A keyboard substitute? I don’t know, and I don’t really know that it entirely matters – it’s a perfect fit into the melody of the music, and an essential ingredient to this song. ***editor’s note – turns out, lo and behold, it was Jim ‘Moose’ Brown playing the Hammond B3. Who knew?
They get a little bit gruffer on “Nostalgia” to follow, and let a bit of that grizzled wisdom come through the microphone. I’ll admit, that’s the only spot where I’ve had a bit of back & forth debate with myself here as I listened & wrote this review…there are a couple moments here & there where it feels like the vocals might have been a bit overcooked in the mix. Not just on “Nostalgia,” but I felt the same about “2nd Chances” as well…just so happens that I liked the melody so much I didn’t feel inclined to complain. With “Nostalgia,” I feel like there’s arguably a little bit less of a song here, so we start to notice those kind of audible details a bit more. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds intentional to a degree in the case of this particular cut…could be slight effects…could be a stylistic choice…”Nostalgia” feels like it would have fit right onto a compilation record from back in the day like This Is Fort Apache or DGC Rarities, Vol. 1 – those albums were loaded with artists/bands that possessed similar sounds in their recordings, and I still love listening to them. So don’t get it twisted, I’m not really complaining about the sound, but it did feel like in terms of the accessibility Happy Curmudgeons started the album with, that aspect slips down a bit by this third tune and they become more of a niche appeal to the freaks and geeks like me. The main star of the show on this track is without a doubt the guitars once again, which could very well be right up there with my favorite sounds/moments for that instrument to be found on this entire album. There’s like…a Dinosaur Jr.-esque type of J Mascis genius going on in what’s being played, and I love that! “Nostalgia” also has a warm humbleness to it too that is really endearing to listen to. I kind of suspect that this third track might take a spin or two for people to appreciate or find the kind of connection that they formed instantly with the first two tracks, but I’m confident it’ll grow on listeners.
I’m a bit more familiar with “All On You” from having it being featured on our pages here in the past, and since that traces back to 2022, you too might be more familiar with this cut. A good idea to have included this song on the record? You betcha. Look…albums take time to make…or rather, they used to – but I’m all for that approach continuing on, or making a comeback. You should be out there testing the waters with singles and EPs…that’s what those are supposed to be used for! Then when it comes time to make your album, you know full well what the best of the best material is, where your direction in the sound is heading & where your strongest moments are found, and you go with the best of the best to make that full record. So, with respect to that, I think “All On You” absolutely earned its place in this lineup, assuming Happy Curmudgeons were adhering to this kind of strategy. It’s got a gorgeously warm sound to it, wonderful vocal melodies and harmonies shared between the lead and background – I mean, for real folks, this song sounds like the audio equivalent of recording pure sunshine. The bass stands out for its relentless smoothness, the percussion is highly inventive, the guitars are spot-on, and the vocals deliver a pure masterclass when it comes to the art of expression. You feel a track like “All On You” deep within your soul as you listen to it, and connect to the sensory sound at the core of this song.
To be truthful though, they don’t need the accolades from me, or any further confirmation from anyone to be honest. 2nd Chances has already amassed a wildly impressive million-plus streams on Spotify alone, so believe me when I tell ya, the numbers indicate that the people have already rendered their verdict in the court of public opinion, and they like what they hear. “Rustic Glory” is one of the tracks they’ve given the full-video treatment for, and another cut on the record that features a whole lineup of talented guest-stars. You’ve got Billy Cox (Bass), Jim Brown (Hammond B3), Bobby Balderrama (Lead Guitar), and Todd Glass (Drums) lending their time and talents to “Rustic Glory,” and of course, on a musical level, this collaboration ends up sounding great. Would I have chosen “Rustic Glory” as a single? That’s probably a bit harder to say. I get the temptation…it’s got an upbeat vibe and some real bounce to it…I mean, let’s be real here, Billy Cox is crushin’ it and really gets the spark into the music of “Rustic Glory.” Where I think it gets a bit more problematic in terms of being a single, is that it’s the verses we become addicted to more-so than anything else – that’s where the main hooks exist. So…don’t get me wrong…I don’t think they’ve necessarily written an anti-chorus into “Rustic Glory” – it’s still effective as a chorus, it’s just not the most memorable part of the song is all, which is unusual in a single. I absolutely LOVE the jam they get into in the middle of this track though…the personality and skill in the music is off the charts, and that in itself will draw people in to listen. Beyond all that, to be frank with ya, listeners are generally happy as long as there ARE hooks to be found somewhere, and even when they’re found more within the verses like they are on “Rustic Glory,” that’ll do just fine. I mean…in my personal opinion, the groove they latch onto and the hooks they create in the vocal melody throughout the verses of “Rustic Glory” are without question one of the most significant highlights on this album.
One of the more unique moments to this particular lineup of tunes, is “Jack Russell.” Ultimately, that can work both for and against an album…sometimes that break in what the main sound has been can be a welcome thing, and at others, it can stand out like a questionable inclusion to the set-list. Everyone’s gonna come to their own different conclusions about how they feel in that regard. “Jack Russell” is every bit as playful as its intended to be – I believe Happy Curmudgeons aren’t always in this music-thang to make the most profound or prolific tracks, so much as to provide YOU with a damn good time – and ain’t that ultimately what this is? Don’t let its upbeat demeanor fool you though…if you’re really listening to the lyrics, you’d know you wouldn’t want to cross paths with “Jack Russell” if he ain’t had his gin yet, you feel me? Dude’s packin’ like…knives and stuff…and kinda sounds like he might just be a bit of a menace. What was really interesting was that the storyline at the core of this cut kinda pits wild “Jack Russell” against “Slim Jim Brown” – I thought that was kinda neat, considering that there’s actually a Jim Brown that has played on this album. Same Jim Brown? I’ll let you, the listeners, decide. All I know is that I think I went into listening to “Jack Russell” feeling like this was gonna be that song that stood out for the wrong reasons, and ended up really climbing aboard the bandwagon in support of this song’s inclusion. I mean, never mind the fun they’re having with the lyricism and the vocals – LISTEN to how incredible the musical elements are! The harmonica…the upright bass…the piano! You can’t beat the performances you’ll find on any of instruments, straight up, full stop. So while I might still believe that it’s a bit of a stretch to have “Jack Russell” in this particular lineup of songs on 2nd Chances, I also ended up feeling like the whole throwback sound & remarkable performance was genuinely irresistible.
As far as the most accurate song on the record is concerned, I’d reckon that award will go to the short & sad track titled “U.S. Healthcare Blues.” Need I say anything else? You see what I mean? You merely look at a title like that, and you know precisely what there would to be feelin’ blue about, right? I’ll say this…from my perspective, U.S. healthcare got off LIGHT here, and should be thankful that Happy Curmudgeons only spent 1:13 on discussing it. I’m Canadian, so don’t get me wrong, the concept of what’s happening in the United States and their ideas of how healthcare should work literally blow my freakin’ mind to the point where I could get seriously political about it and write you an essay here – but I’ll restrain myself from doing that, because the band did as well. Happy Curmudgeons say what they need to say in such a short amount of time…believe me, if they spent any longer on this topic, they’d probably have to change their name to Sad Curmudgeons instead…so I think they went the right route, and I applaud them for taking a quick moment to highlight what’s actually a very important issue that everyone should be paying attention to, lest it get any worse than it already is. It’s an interlude of sorts, and it’s got a wry humor to it that you kind of have to laugh along with or you’d probably cry…I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but man this topic gets me fully riled the heck up on behalf of the working class!
Mmmmmmm! That SAXOPHONE! What a treat for the ears y’all! That’s guest-star Dave McMurray you’re hearing on “Be Kind,” and believe me when I tell ya, he’s probably got a resume with credits that would extend long past the distance between your head and your toes at this point in his career. Within mere seconds of “Be Kind” starting up, you’ll know exactly why that is…the guy’s a genuine all-star. You’re also going to find a sensational performance from Mark Byerly on the flugelhorn too…which…I’m actually quite appreciative of…I don’t know that I actually knew what the specific sound of a flugelhorn was until this very moment, and I’m actually leaving listening to “Be Kind” more educated than I was coming into it. Incidentally, Mark also produced the songs of 2nd Chances, which was also mastered by the expertise of Bill Skibbe at the legendary Third Man Records in Detroit – so the collaborative effort of Happy Curmudgeons actually extends to both sides of the studio boards. “Be Kind” is a good tune to remind us that life is all about perspective…Happy Curmudgeons will take you through a list of things that can potentially sour us on everyday livin’ – but if you focus on the good instead of the bad, you’ll find this world really ain’t such a bad place at all. Heck, you might even enjoy being here if you “Be Kind” and treat people like you’d wanna be treated yourself! Just imagine what this floating rock we all call home would be like if we did that! “Be Kind” is a gentle tune with a whole lotta warmth to it – it’s more about the message than it is about creating a song that’s designed to hook you in…the message IS the hook here, you know what I mean? A lot of people out there will find “Be Kind” really resonates with them…and for others, they might just find the missing part of their personal soundtrack they really needed. It’s a humble & sweet tune with outstanding instrumentation fueled by the best of intentions.
I felt like the band did a solid job with the early representation of what 2nd Chances would end up being about, and that advance singles like “All On You” and “I Know How You Feel” were excellent choices to have made to entice people into listening. When it comes to “I Know How You Feel,” there might even be a legitimate chance that on the right day, I might even tell ya that I like it more than “All On You,” though again, to be clear, I think they’re both stellar songs. “I Know How You Feel” probably has the edge for me personally, because it actually reminds me a lot of Van Morrison and the way he writes his melodies. I might not think a whole lot about the dude’s politics (like, at all), but if you can separate the art from the artist, Van’s music is always going to be among the best out there in my humble opinion – so to remind me of anything close to that, puts you on undeniably solid ground for what I’d wanna hear. I love the vocals in this song – it’s wonderfully emotional and insightfully expressive…I love the concepts and endearing themes in the lyricism…the musicianship is flawless…I mean…what’s not to love here? It’d be a much shorter list to go that route in reviewing “I Know How You Feel,” to the point where I don’t think I’d have anything to say at all if I was to list what I thought Happy Curmudgeons could have done better or what I don’t like about it. “I Know How You Feel” is a prime example of the professional execution, humble & heartfelt songwriting, and stunning attention to detail that makes this band great.
As we arrive at the finish line, with an acoustic version of “2nd Chances” to finish it all off – I don’t think I’m gonna change my longstanding opinion of having a song appear twice on the same record, even though I did enjoy this variation about as much as I did the original. I do feel like the vocal mix came out a bit stronger on this acoustic version, which is a good thing, because “2nd Chances” is a lot more bare in a style like this, so it was nice to hear things smooth out a bit more in that regard. It’s a genuinely magnificent performance from the microphone if you ask me, and I’m thankful that listeners will get an even better glimpse of the magic happening there through this soulful acoustic treatment. Is it different enough to warrant the risk of having a great song burn out at a 2:1 ratio as a result of it appearing twice? No. I’m comfortable with saying it’s pretty true to the original song, just stripped back to one guitar and vocals…I’m all for an unplugged version of just about anything, but I’m always against the risk of endangering the longevity of a great tune. But that’s my take on having a song appear twice on the inside of one lineup, and I don’t expect y’all to feel the same as I do. Besides…the wear and tear doesn’t tend to reveal itself until much further on down the road anyway…when an album’s brand-new to you, all you’re hearing is one of your favorite songs come back again, and we tend to respond favorably to that. All-in-all, I’m extremely pleased with the entire set-list here…2nd Chances is a really well-made and well thought-out album, filled with colorful & charismatic instrumentation, sensational guest-stars, and a core group of Happy Curmudgeons that should be extraordinarily pleased with what they’ve achieved.
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