Plenty of great artists have needed a patron at one time or another, and never let it be said Greg Cartwright is not a great artist. While being the leader, vocalist, and songwriter with the fiery garage-soul combo
Reigning Sound may have brought Cartwright plenty of respect, it wasn't exactly making him rich. So when the folks who make Scion automobiles offered to bankroll a
Reigning Sound album that they would give away as part of a marketing effort, Cartwright said why not, and
Abdication… For Your Love received a limited release through Scion in late 2011. In 2019, Merge Records brought out a more widely available version of
Abdication that included the original eight songs as well as a ninth, "What Did I Tell You," that was added as a bonus. For
Abdication, Cartwright and his bandmates (Dave Amels on keyboards, Mike Catanese on guitar, Benjamin Trokan on bass, and Mikey Post on drums) got to work with a big-shot producer for the first time, in this case
Dan Auerbach of
the Black Keys, who was at the helm for five of the songs. The tracks with
Auerbach sound considerably more polished than anything
Reigning Sound had released up to that time, but if he imposed a higher level of studio craft on the band, he's also simpatico, bumping up the soulful accents in the melodies, giving Amels' keyboards room to shine, and providing Post with a drum sound to die for.
Reigning Sound never left any doubt that they could kick out the jams, but tracks like "Everything I Do Is Wrong," "Call Me #1," and "Eve" instead reveal a smoky passion that lets Cartwright's vocals reveal some nuance that his rave ups would roll right over. For anyone who wanted more rock action from this group, the remaining numbers produced by Cartwright deliver the goods, and "Watching My Baby" and "Lyin' Girl" are the sound of a great band drawing sweat. Clocking in at a mere 25 minutes,
Abdication… For Your Love isn't exactly the Great Lost
Reigning Sound Album, but it documents an outstanding band in fine form, and it's welcome news that fans won't have to keep scouring secondhand markets to add this to their collection. ~ Mark Deming