Title: “Jukebox Casanova's”
Artist: The Torchlight Revival
Album: “1937” E.P
Release Date: April 13, 2020
Length: 4:17
Format: CD Single, Digital Download, 7” Single
Recorded: October 17 – 20, 2019 – Blackbird Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre: Alternative Rock, Americana
Label: Southbound Records
Writer(s): Joel Blake
Producer(s): Frankie Dallas, Brandon Caulfield
“Jukebox Casanova's” is the title of the debut single from Americana rock band 'The Torchlight Revival' taken from their debut E.P released in February 2020 titled '1937' which peaked at number one on the album charts. Signed as part of the growing roster at the Americana, Country and Rock oriented label Southbound Records by Brandon Caulfield in mid-2019, they've already managed to gain a fair amount of traction and buzz with fans enjoying the throwback vibes to classic rock and roll and vintage era Americana. It was a surprising way to debut with the release of an E.P before the first single, essentially asking fans to buy in to the band without hearing a preview of their sound in the form of a single, but with the independent spirit of the label backed by a major name in the music industry in Brandon Caulfield, it appears to have been a risk worth taking, with the surprise and intrigue element propelling the E.P to the top of the charts.
The band had already gained a fairly strong local reputation around the east coast independent scene before they were signed to the label and a supporting slot as opening act for fellow label mate 'Savannah Haim' on the European leg of her world tour helped the bands reputation increase quite strongly in the months leading up to the release of their debut E.P.
The track which was one of three original songs on their E.P clocks in at four minutes and seventeen seconds and will be released on the standard formats, CD Single, Digital Download and 7” Single through 'Southbound Records'.
Song Review;The song which was written by lead singer and primary songwriter 'Joel Blake' is a four minute song with classic tropes of late seventies and early eighties rock n roll, prior to the hair metal and MTV era that came slightly later. The song begins with a strong lead guitar riff and drum combination, quickly accompanied by a low bass line as their frontman sings with a gruff a world-weary vocal delivery as he sings the songs' almost bitter nostalgia-infused lyrics,
“We've been called the last of the jukebox Casanova's/The dive bar Romero's in this shitty little town/Slow dancing with the girls who think they were born in the wrong era/With their cowboy boots and their flower crowns.” with the latter being a potentially ironic lyric as they're a band that are very clearly influenced by an era of times gone by.
He continues on,
“When we sing the choruses together/There's a desire burnin'/Screaming from the top of our lungs/Big wheel keep on turnin'/And we'll go rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight.” with lyrics that seemingly reference the 'Creedence Clearwater Revival' song “Proud Mary.” in a trope that seems to be common place with bands that were their influence on their sleeves, it's seems like a cheap way of 'popping the boys' for lack of a better phrase to reference lyrics from a well loved song from days gone by.
The music remains pretty standard throughout, just enough to keep you interested but not quite enough to overshadow the vocals and lyrical content of the song as they go into the second verse,
“The boys with their Whiskey shots/The girls are throwing back Tequila slammers/They're dancin' like fools in the early morning hours/A touch and a kiss under the bar light.Darlin' can I take you home with me tonight/Can I take you home with me tonight.”This quickly runs into the next section,
“We both know how this story's gonna go/We've both been here before/We'll exchange numbers in the morning/Both fully aware that neither one of us is calling.” and for the first time in the song, we're getting the feeling of the setting being more of a modern day and not so attached to this idealised version of an era they weren't even alive in.
And as we reach the final section of the song, the music has slowed down noticeably but the drum beat has replaced the lead guitar as the most prominent sound, with their frontman singing in time with the backbeat, or at least close enough to it.
“So can we just have fun forI tonight/We'll dance under the stars/In the north eastern moonlight/Sing until we lose our voice/In this shitty little town/That's our only choice.” before leading us then into the songs quasi-chorus, “We've been called the last of the jukebox Casanova's/The dive bar Romeo's in this shitty little town/Slow dancing with the girls who think they were born in the wrong era/With their cowboy boots and their flower crowns/When we sing the choruses together/There's a desire burnin'/Screaming from the top of our lungs/Big wheel keep on turnin'/And we'll go rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight.”
And with the songs outro, we're given the repeated lines of, [i]”Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight/Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight/Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight/Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight” because who doesn't like singing repetitive lines back to the singer. It's a tried and tested formula that has worked for years.
So overall, there's a lot of cliché in this song and as I stated earlier in the review, they seem to be a band that likes to where their influences on their leather sleeves. This isn't actually a negative for me, as I think they're aware of this and there is always an audience for nostalgia. I think a lot of people who listen to this sort of music are often searching for modern younger bands that sound a lot like that late sixties and early seventies rock and roll band. I wouldn't say this band is manufactured in any way in the same sense as an act from a music talent show is and listening to the other two songs from their E.P they're at least putting their own stories in these songs, and a track like “1937” seems very personal to their lead singer. It's just that they're layered in a way that it's a little too obvious what they're going for. I like the content, not necessarily the package. A very good song, wrapped a little too much in it's gimmick to be fully enjoyable. But judging from their debut E.P, this was the obvious single, but there's some true depth to their work and craft that we don't get from this song. A solid effort nontheless.
“Jukebox Casanova's”“We've been called the last of the jukebox Casanova's
The dive bar Romeo's in this shitty little town
Slow dancing with the girls who think they were born in the wrong era
With their cowboy boots and their flower crowns
When we sing the choruses together
There's a desire burnin'
Screaming from the top of our lungs
Big wheel keep on turnin'
And we'll go rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight
The boys with their Whiskey shots
The girls are throwing back Tequila slammers
They're dancin' like fools in the early morning hours
A touch and a kiss under the bar light
Darlin' can I take you home with me tonight
Can I take you home with me tonight
We both know how this story's gonna go
We've both been here before
We'll exchange numbers in the morning
Both fully aware that neither one of us is calling
So can we just have fun for tonight
We'll dance under the stars
In the north eastern moonlight
Sing until we lose our voice
In this shitty little town
That's our only choice
We've been called the last of the jukebox Casanova's
The dive bar Romeo's in this shitty little town
Slow dancing with the girls who think they were born in the wrong era
With their cowboy boots and their flower crowns
When we sing the choruses together
There's a desire burnin'
Screaming from the top of our lungs
Big wheel keep on turnin'
And we'll go rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight
Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight
Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight
Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight
Rollin', rollin', rollin' around tonight”
Personnel;Joel Blake – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lyrics
Tommy Kramer – lead guitar, backing vocals
Jackson Osborne – bass guitar, backing vocals
Brian Egan – drums, percussion
Frankie Dallas – production, mixing, mastering, engineering
Brandon Caulfield – production, mastering
