Charles Ray and The Righteous Kind hail from Gainsville, Florida and specialise in no nonsense retro rock 'n' roll and don't always take themselves too seriously, thereby injecting humour into their music which can be something of a rarity these days. Rock 'n' roll was always meant to have a celebratory 'feel good' edge to it and it is somethng that so often gets overlooked, because bands tend to feel that to be less than deadly serious is to be in some way weaker and that ain't the case boys and girls, you're meant to be enjoying yourselves!
The band's sound is twangy rock 'n' roll guitars with a fat gospel sounding Hammond organ and Charles Ray's tremulous 'high school hop' vocals sitting on top. Opening songs 'The First Rock 'n' Roll Song', 'All I Really Want' and 'Low Grade Fever' all rattle along entertainingly enough and there is a hint of Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band somewhere in the mix, which is fine, as they were a good full on rock 'n' roll outfit at their best. 'Russian Women' changes the pace and has a cool Latin feel, 'Not Like That' is tremolo and twang workout and set closer 'Righteous Man' conjures up images of a bygone age.
Some Are Of Love is an enjoyable, feel good album, with retro style songs featuring tongue in cheek humour and, in places, some more adult themes than you might have heard 50 years ago. From this collection of songs one can imagine that the band are an energetic and entertaining live act, but if you can't get to see 'em, then buy this album.
Reviewed by Kevin Wallbank of M100 and Honeymoon on Mars
