The Flavor is a Cleveland, Ohio based blues/rock/americana band. They serve up a smorgasbord of Southwestern-styled blues on their eponymous first release for Love Muffin Records.

14 MP3 Songs in this album (53:16) !
Related styles: Blues: Blues-Rock, Rock: Americana, Featuring Guitar

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Details:
CD review from The Cleveland sound website, November 2rd, 2011, by Pete Roche:

Comprised of four hardcore Ohio blues aficionados ranging in age from mid-twenties to mid-fifties, The Flavor serves up a smorgasbord of Southwestern-styled blues on their eponymous first release for Love Muffin Records. Fans of Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Muddy Waters, Howlinâ Wolf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Elvis Presley, and Allman Brothers take note. If it has strings, The Flavor fellow can play it proficientlyâfrom Telecasters and vintage Gibson Les Pauls to Fender Resonator guitar and electric mandolinâand add it to their sonic stew.

Commencing with in some in-studio talk and laughter, âHot Sauceâ bolts from the gate with rollicking twelve-bar blues straight out of the Louisiana bayou. A Cajun vibe pervades the track, which finds 25-year old singer / guitarist Joe Landes engaging in a little tongue-in-cheek risqué innuendo regarding his nickname: They call me Hot Sauce / Put your hand on my bottle / Take off the top / Get yourself some hot sauce / Youâll want every last drop. The swampy slide guitar solo and extended chicken pickinâ provide just a taste of what lies ahead on the delectable debut.

âGoinâ Up Northâ matches Dave âMannâ Wolfâs crunchy guitar with Ernie Richmannâs sharp drum attack and Adam Richâs understated bass for a great groove, upon with Landes and Wolf swap some trebly, melodic leads. âBefore You Let Me Goâ eases the throttle a bit, the sturdy rhythm section playing in the pocket until the whispered outro. But then itâs full speed ahead once more on âThe Truth,â a rockabilly barnstormer with big beats and gritty guitar.

âLittle Girlâ is a ready-made radio hit, employing vocal harmony over a simple but irresistible chord progression to extol a loverâs many virtues: You and me, hand in hand / You told me you didnât want any other man / Now Iâm trying the best I canâ¦. âIâve Lost Your Loveâ is the other side of the same coin, with Landes and Wolf relying on Martin D-28 and Alvarez DY-74 acoustics to bemoan romance gone awry.

âHot and Botheredâ has the boys getting mischievous again, with Landes relaying the familiar tale of a Lothario who hits the ground running when his girlfriendâs gun-toting husband unexpectedly comes home. âShort Haired Womanâ is another humorous entry, wherein the narrator ignores warnings from his mama (and preacher) about girls with close cuts, tattoos, and body piercings.

Landes professes love of his instrument in âMy Guitar,â siding with his six-string when a temptress forces him to choose. The playful tune crashes to a haltâonly to start back up again in double-time. âOdd Man Outâ examines the life of an extrovert, over whom bad mojo hangs like a thundercloud. Rich propels the number along with strident bass, over which Landes sprinkles a jazz-inflected solo. âBleedinâ Soulâ approaches âTexas Floodâ territory in ambition and scope; the slow, angst-ridden Delta blues piece sounds as if Landes and Wolf contributed solos with every instrument in their collective arsenal, slide guitar to lap-steel.

The albumâs midsection showcases musical reflection âVertigo,â whereon The Flavorâs more serious side comes out, with the band exploring chances taken (and opportunities lost): Pause at the threshold / Take a deep breath / Win by a landslide / Or meet sudden death. Itâs a clever spin on that butterflies-in-the-stomach sensation one gets when trying something new or especially difficult, where each decision is crucial and the outcome offers no safety net between the two extremes of success and failure. At nearly seven minutes, âCloser to Youâ traipses through Mexicana styles, with the fleet-fingered guitarists kicking up dust with flamenco fills and bottleneck slides. Album capper âEndâ is no less delightful for being the discâs shortest selectionâor its only instrumental.

The Flavor are to be commended for the production job on this self-made CD. The mix is quite good, with Richâs bass and Richmannâs Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz kit sitting centered as miscellaneous lead instruments (including autoharp and melodica) by Landes and Wolf occupy stereo left and right. The sound couldnât be more crisp, or the playing more tight.