TAB the Band - Long Weekend

Genre rock Publisher North Street Records External Links TAB the Band Website TAB the Band MySpace

TAB the Band have been around for less than two years, but already sound like rock veterans. Their debut album was well received by critics and their follow-up coming out in August, Long Weekend, is sure to please the mainstream rock fans as well. The music from this Boston-area trio is loud and straightforward. They have been compared to the Rolling Stones and early Aerosmith. The latter comes as no surprise, as guitarist Tony and lead vocalist/bassist Adrian are the sons of Aerosmith guitar god, Joe Perry. (The third member is drummer Ben Tileston - the band's name is formed from their first initials.)

TAB the Band does little to update the sound of their bluesy rock influences, but there is a bit of a rockabilly that the bands of the '70s never had. One of the best things about reinventing an old sound is hindsight, and the ability to pick out only the best parts of the genre and ignore the worst. TAB the Band only partly succeeds in doing this; they don't necessarily sound like a revival band, but they also don't sound like something completely new either.

The first couple tracks of Long Weekend are noisy but infectious, and they give the impression that TAB the Band must be great to see live. (This might also be because of the live-sounding echoey vocals.) They change it up with "Where She Was on Monday," which gives the crunchy guitar a break. It harks back to the simple, less-heavy rock of the Kinks; it's more sing-songy with a pronounced bass line.

Then it's back again to the Stones-meets-rockabilly with the next track, "Sticky Wickets." This song sounds a lot like the first two, with vocals that are desperately trying to be heard over the raucous guitar and drums. TAB the Band breaks up the monotony again with "I Know That You're Leaving," which still doesn't have lyrics that are all that impressive, but the change of pace makes the song all the more refreshing. The rest of the album goes on like this, high-energy tracks interspersed with a little slower ones. One track, "Skip Your Class," stands out as the real letdown of the album. If it's a parody of "Bad to the Bone," then the song is actually pretty good; if it's not a parody, it's just bad.

Overall, Long Weekend is a fun album from a band who play loud and hard with a nod to their roots. It's full of crunchy guitars and the kind of yell-singing vocals that are great for all those outdoor music festivals in summer. Judging by their first two albums, TAB the Band will probably be around for a while, trying out slightly new sounds to change things up every so often. Now, if they could just rethink that name…