Diablos and Hawks

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer
  
   Josh Lederman y Los Diablos’ third album, The Town Old’s Fair, is like going to a lively block party in a Jewish and Irish neighborhood. This Boston-based band delivers a rootsy sound riddled with mandolin, banjo and accordion. Corn beef and cabbage served with matzoh balls may not work on paper but it sure as hell works on this spirited CD.
   Demolition String Band, an upstate New York alt-country ensemble, has a new album called Where The Wild, Wild Flowers Grow: The Songs Of Ola Belle Reed. Reed, who died at 87 in 2002, had a rare bluegrass gift. DSB honors its subject well with lovely covers that gracefully capture the genre’s jittery and mournful heartbreak.
   Yeah, James McMurtry is one of Texas’ great storytellers. But on Live In Aught-Three, he shows he can back burner the laid back style and deliver some barnburners. “Choctaw Bingo” from Saint Mary Of The Woods is a nearly nine-minute rocker. It will induce foot-stomping, laughter and gasps with lines about relatives who’ve switched from moon-shining to meth labs because there’s a better profit margin. Who says job re-training can’t work?
   The Royal Sessions is fabulous funk by a mix of session vets and cocky newcomers called The Bo-Keys. With vocal and instrumental tracks, these Memphis boys could be cousins to The Meters from New Orleans. My wife briefly heard one track and said, “That sounds like ‘Shaft.’” And for good reason: Bo-Keys’ guitarist Skip Pitts played on that landmark Isaac Hayes’ song. The Bo-Keys have roots in the past as they happily high-step into the future.
   Marah from Philadelphia have landed at Yep Rec Records in North Carolina with 20,000 Streets Under The Sky. Novelists (and music geeks) Nick Hornby and Stephen King are huge fans. These City of Brotherly Love boys evoke those early Springsteen days down the Jersey shore. “Pizzeria” is vintage Marah, a raved-up reminiscence of a local Italian eatery known for “dollar slices and your backroom vices.” Marah is ample proof that rock and roll didn’t die — it just moved to Philly.
   On a roadside, I recently saw a bird of prey holding a dead pigeon, the harsh reality of the life on the winged food chain. But it reminded me that I See Hawks In L.A. has a new album. Grapevine is this local band’s sophomore effort. Its cosmic country sounds have already garnered lots of attention. Led by Rob Waller’s earthy vocals, its songs soar just like the band’s namesake. (But let’s be honest: I See Pigeons In L.A. somehow lacks the same punch.)
   Miles Of Music has The Town’s Old Fair for $9.99, Where The Wild, Wild Flowers Grow for $13.99, Live In Aught-Three for $13.49 and 20,000 Streets Under The Sky for $11.99. Amazon has The Royal Sessions for $14.99. Get Grapevine for $17.50 at www.iseehawks.com.
   In honor of Dick Cheney saying “F—- you!” to Sen. Patrick Leahy, The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is … Swearing At Motorists.