Glorietta
S/T
*** and 1/2 out of *****
The first and possibly only effort from the Texas group Glorietta arrives from the players Noah Gundersen, Matthew Logan Vasquez, Kelsey Wilson, David Ramirez, Adrian Quesada, Jason Robert Blum who came together after a drunken jam session and this 'friend record' came about with people helping out on each others songs. The tunes roll out with ease as light drums, acoustic and electric guitars all mix as if the group plugged in around duct taped microphones in a communal living room and got down to business with smiles all around, which is exactly what happened on the lo-fi recording style.
"Losers Lament" is just that as the album introduces us to the players who were organized around Vazquez who organized the proceedings and acted as the link between most of the artists who had not even met each other before. The band woke up on the first morning and rallied around Gunderson's acoustic based "Lincoln Creek" harmonizing with ease about tough life on the road. Other acoustic numbers are the haunting "Sinking Ship" which finds Kelsey Wilson taking on lead vocals while the bright ditty "Easy Come Easy Go" injects a smile into the proceedings.
Gunderson steps to the front again on the brilliant "Golden Lonesome" which is a gem while Vazquez also invited his friend Nathaniel Rateliff to join the party and he stayed a few days to help out "Friends" which lyrically describes Rateliff and Vasquez's first meeting and "I Know" which is the outlier track here, an easy funky number which receives a punked up ending. "Mindy" is a hard rocking riff but noticeably less successful, not really moving anywhere, before album closer "Las Estrellas" wraps things up with a delicate West Texas ballad.
The dramatic and echo laden "Someday" is at once both light and weighty with gorgeous supporting harmonies and growing old lyrics while "Hard Way" is a twangy Texas rocker that sounds ready for prime time. This is an excellent snapshot of a time these friends and new acquaintances got together to record a solid album of tunes in an organic setting. Enjoy Glorietta the way it was meant to be, with friends old and new.
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