Lonesome Highway

Call it roots rock or even cowpunk, but there’s no denying the energy that emanates from these grooves. Esquela is a band fronted by John “Chico” Finn who is the lead vocalist and chief songwriter in the band . Their latest release was recorded during the current pandemic and featured the musicians working remotely under the guidance of Eric “Roscoe” Ambel - no better man for the job. His credentials and feel for this music are evident from many productions he has overseen from his Evie’s Terrace home studio in Brooklyn. The songs were accumulated since the band’s last outing CANIS MAJOR was released back in 2015. Finn sent guitar and vocal recordings to Ambel to get the project off the blocks and the end results turned out to be what may be the band’s best effort to date. Everyone seems focused and happy to be making music. Finn shared the lead vocals throughout with Becca Frame and the two work well together, something that is doubtless the result of the time they have spent working in the studio and on the road together.

The opening song Not In My Backyard (Nimby), like many of the lyrics here, has a serious theme of wanting something to be changed, as long as it’s not happening near them. The song opens with Frame’s voice before Finn joins in. I can’t help but be reminded of Ireland’s The Golden Horde in the vocals, something of a second cousin to the Horde’s duet with Maria McKee on Friends In Time. As well as the catchy chorus there are some compelling guitar riffs to help it along. From there on the songs come thick and fast, all making the best use of the component parts to deliver a highly enjoyable album that rocks in all the right places. There is humour here as well, as in the worries that are prominent in not knowing how to deal with very First World Problems - broken sunglasses, stolen phones, not knowing your wi-fi password and so on. It makes a point but does so in a self-depreciating yet forceful way and ends with a little throwback reference to the Sex Postols. The rhythm section of bassist Keith Christopher and Mike Ricciardi are solid and synced throughout, which considering that they recorded separately is acknowledgement of their skills.

Kudos though must go to the collective guitar skills of Ambel, Brain Shafer and Matt Woodin, who kick up some noise throughout and bring electricity to these songs. There are other guest players here who all bring something to the show too. There’s the tale of a character in very shady Three Finger Joe “a deputy sheriff who ran the show in Ohio.” Or the oft-ask question of a troublesome personality that is framed by What’s Your Problem?, before deciding that enough is enough.

The final track takes a different approach, using a poem of Konstantin Simonov and music from Frame and Shafer to close the album in a more contemplative mood. It delivers an effective end to the album’s more up-tempo and animated performances. This is one of those albums that effortlessly convinces but the truth is it is usually born out of hard work and hard thinking. Esquela have made their announcement that they are back and they are again ready to rock.