Freight Train Boogie

Do you have friends who love to play music? Who enjoy sharing it with you in rowdy bars, having a ball even if some of the songs are only halfway-done sketches? Now you do. Esquela, a rowdy little band from upstate NY, sounds like the most fun you could have in a little local pub. “The Owl Has Landed” is 37 minutes of noisy songs that cover a truly odd range of subjects in various and incomplete ways. “Commies Stink” kicks off the album with a tongue-in-cheek schoolyard taunt from the Cold War before it moves to unrequited bar pick-ups (Hands In My Jammies), and ends with a nearly hallucinogenic 6 minute chant (Country Fella) that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Yo La Tengo album. Georgia Satellites member Keith Christopher keeps the band anchored in a rough, sloppy sound reminiscent of early ‘70s Stones, while vocalist Rebecca Frame keeps our attention on her Joplin-esque chops. Many of the songs sound as though half the audience from the previous night’s gig were still drinking in the studio, and we are all invited to join. A truly unique and charming album.