Foo Fighter goes solo... with a little help from his friends
YOU don’t have to look too far to see where Taylor Hawkins found the inspiration to become a frontman.
Having played drums with American stadium rockers Foo Fighters for more than 20 years, the Californian has a perfect role model in bandmate Dave Grohl, the Foo singer who first made his name as the drummer in Nirvana.
Hawkins steps up to the microphone with relish on Get The Money. It’s his third album with his side project The Coattail Riders and it reiterates his all-round ability, as he also plays guitar, piano and drums.
The band name is an in-joke, trading on the notion that Taylor, 47, is merely riding on Grohl’s coattails, but he’s a talent in his own right.
Having toured with Alanis Morissette before joining Foo Fighters in 1997, he’s also a compulsive collaborator — like many drummers seeking the limelight, he ropes in a few friends to help him out.
In addition to regular Coattail Riders Chris Chaney, Brent Woods and John Lousteau, there are familiar faces here in fellow Foos Grohl and Pat Smear. Queen’s Roger Taylor, Chrissie Hynde and Heart’s Nancy Wilson also appear.
There’s plenty to engage Foo fans. The album’s opening chords, on Crossed The Line — which falls back on the quiet-loud dynamic of grunge — are played by Grohl and establish an immediate connection to the mothership. OTHER
tracks are rooted in a driving, catchy mix of grunge, glam and heavy metal, and You’re No Good At Life No More, a duet between Hawkins and Grohl, features Queen-style harmonies.
Grohl serves up more vocal screams on I Really Blew It, but Hawkins also edges away from the crunching hard rock of his day job — or his ‘Dave job’, as he called it when he hosted an album playback in London last week.
Chrissie Hynde shines on the reggae title track, and Mark King, of Level 42, sings and plays trademark slap bass on Queen Of The Clowns. ‘I was a child of the eighties,’ says Taylor of his duet with the British pop-soul man. ‘I love great pop and you can’t deny Level 42’s greatness.’
The most surprising collaboration sees him hooking up with LeAnn Rimes, a Grammy award-winning country star who sings with a Patsy Cline-like twang. Hawkins and Rimes make an unlikely double act (they met on the school run), but their contrasting styles mix well on C U In Hell, a psychedelic rocker that looks to Queen (again) and Pink Floyd.
Get The Money opts for directness over depth. Queen Of The Clowns gently pokes fun at the rich Californian types obsessed with yoga, make-up and Botox.
Hawkins is willing to have a laugh at his own expense, too — the title tune ridicules spoilt rock stars. The most poignant track is Middle Child, a tribute to Taylor’s daughter Annabelle, the second of his three children. ‘I see angels when you smile,’ he sings, with Grohl adding a wonderfully elastic riff. Hawkins has sung lead before, notably on the Foo Fighters song Sunday Rain. But this solo sabbatical demonstrates his capabilities in full. He could easily have stayed in the background — one of the classic ‘out of focus guys’ in band pictures — but his move to centre stage is a rewarding one. SIMPLY ReD’S Mick Hucknall returns to his feelgood soul roots on the band’s second album since a 2015 reunion. He turns 60 next year, but says he wanted to deliver ‘something punchy’ rather than anything dark or reflective.
That’s no surprise. He aired his most personal thoughts four years ago on the heart- warming comeback album Big Love, singing about his troubled childhood and devoted father Reg. He is now keen to enjoy himself while encouraging his fans to dance their cares away, too.
Blue eyed Soul is a band effort, with old hands such as guitarist Kenji Suzuki and bassist Steve Lewinson prominent on new songs recorded as live, with few overdubs. Hucknall is in fine voice, too. His overall tone has deepened a little with age, but a silky edge remains and he can still hit the high notes.
There are throwbacks to past glories. Thinking Of You wouldn’t have sounded out of place on 1991’s Stars, and Complete Love is a string ballad in the tradition of Al Green.
Riding On A Train harnesses a soulful James Brown feel, though the railway service in question is more likely to be one departing for leafy Surrey, where Hucknall now lives, than the Midnight Train To Georgia.
The second half of the album focuses on hard-to-resist rhythms. Ring That Bell and BadBootz are loose, jazzy jams and Don’t Do Down, with trumpeter Kevin Robinson on low backing vocals, is a funky tour de force. ‘It’s all about capturing the groove,’ says Hucknall, clearly in his element.
BOTH albums are out today. Simply Red start a UK tour in October 2020 (seetickets.com)