Whether he's fronting the Dirty Truckers or playing with his band The Snakes, Tom Baker writes songs that ought to be staples of barroom jukeboxes everywhere. Informed by everything from the Stones to The Replacements to alt-country to heartland rock, Baker's brand of everyman rock and roll is always from the heart and full of hooks. For his new solo EP
Dirty Snakes, Baker has enlisted the services of both of his bands. The Snakes (John Blout, John Brookhouse, Charles Hansen, and John Sheeran) play on two of these tracks. The Truckers (John Lynch, John Brookhouse, Jamie Griffith) play on the other four. Combined, that's a veritable all-star team of Boston rock and roll!
Dirty Snakes is slated for imminent release on compact disc by Rum Bar Records. It's a vintage Baker assortment of boozy rockers ("Cancel It"), tender ballads ("Pushin' You Away"), country rock jams ("On Your Device"), and Westerberg/Stinson flavored ragged pop gems ("Out of Focus"). When Malibu Lou asked for my take on "Weird Romance" a while back, I said "Kind of like newer Bon
Jovi, except actually good!" Baker is just a damn fine songwriter with a knack for turning out solid middle of the road rock tunes. And it's very telling that even when he does a "solo" record, he makes sure that the tremendous players backing him get their due credit. Coming in lean at six tracks,
Dirty Snakes is packed with first rate material from one of the most underrated talents in all of rock and roll. It goes great with cold, cheap beer - which no self-respecting rum bar will be adverse to stocking.
-L.R.
https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-snakes
https://www.facebook.com/RumBarRecords
https://www.facebook.com/TomBakerRockMusic/
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