Not a lot of great music might make it up to the barrens of Maine, but some pretty good stuff appears to be coming from there. Supported by the formidable production talents of
Dave Leonard and
Tony Visconti,
Rustic Overtones combines sounds and flavors of
Gil Evans,
Marvin Gaye,
Dave Matthews,
Dicky Barrett, and
David B -- wait a minute, that is
David Bowie! Apparently impressed by the sextet's drive (and talent), the Thin White Duke lent the band not only his favorite producer (
Visconti) but also his unmistakable pipes on not one, but two songs. Though "Man Without a Mouth" bellows ironically, "Sector Z" ranks with
Bowie's better tech-fed tunes and fits in well with the diversely styled album. Opening with the wave-your-arms-and-chant-along single "C'mon," Viva Nueva rolls through the calypsoed "Crash Landing" and rumbles over the techno-funk of "Gas on Skin." While "Combustible" features incendiary horns and explosive vocal delivery, "Hit Man" offers swaying soul and "Baby Blue" is absolute lounge. The album even includes its own pre-concert warmup with the self-referential "Check." So, are these Maine-iacs well prepared? A-yuh! ~ Matthew Robinson