Gideon King & City Blog
Upscale Madhouse
(Gideon King & City Blog)

A grimy drum beat and some weird guitar tinkles create the spacey mélange slip-a’funk “Straight To Hell,” that opens Gideon King & City Blog’s Upscale Madhouse. I so dig this jazzy groove (the bass is cooking like a mother here), a little of Steely Dan, some fusion. There’s lots of stuff here that King with Conrad Sewell, Elliott Skinner, Marc Broussard, John Scofield, Donny Mccaslin, Carolyn Leonhart, Brendan Fletcher, Grace Weber, James Genus, and Kate Kelsey Sugg put into these ten tracks.

The title track follows, a pretty acoustic ballad, with very wry lyrics. A different vocalist (or same vocalist mining a different sound) lends another layer to what this big project can manage. How can you not love a lyric like, “Everyone will kiss your ass and pretend it’s your face?” Priceless stuff.

We get upbeat roiling riffs, quick snapping snare, and wonderful jazzy piano and bass on the big single here, “Fake It On Facebook.” It’s impossible not to tap your foot to this mover, with the storytelling lyrics, a perfect reflection of the weary world we live in.

“Gun to My Head,” opens with some sweet electric guitar picking, then we get into a heavy muted snare with guitars and horns playing off one another. It’s Earth Wind and Fire-like.

Really, there isn’t a bad tune in this bunch, the songwriting is masterful, lyrics sublime, and musicianship of high quality to be sure. Gideon King & City Blog’s Upscale Madhouse is a cool New York record that pulls out all the stops.