HomeMusicAlbum Review: Mingo Fishtrap, 'On Time'

Album Review: Mingo Fishtrap, ‘On Time’

on-time

The time honored saying, “what’s old is new again” certainly applies to On Time the new record from the Austin, Texas-based soul/funk outfit Mingo Fishtrap.

Photo Credit: John Carrico
Photo Credit: John Carrico

The band is steeped in the wondrously fat sound of old time Southern blues, funk and soul. But let’s not get it twisted this is not some sort of “retro” band that dons the old time sound and style for the sake of doing so.

No, the music of Mingo Fishtrap, takes inspiration from the rich history of these musical genres and applies them to today’s modern scene, creating a vibrantly lush, infectious and soulful record. In many ways, On Time is a bit of a timeless record — drop a needle on this record in the 60s and the record would feel at home rubbing elbows with The Doobie Brothers. Yet, place it in today’s scene and you could mix any track by Mingo Fishtrap in a playlist with anyone from Robert Randolph to Galactic to Tedeschi/Trucks.

The beauty of On Time is two-fold. The first and most important, is the absolutely gorgeous vocals of Roger Blevins, Jr. This man has got soul for days and the melody that comes out of his vocal chords are just absolutely amazing. Blevins sounds like the band went back in time to the heyday of Motown, picked Blevins up and made him sing on this record. Check out the track “Where Did You Come From?” and you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. If you were to compare him to someone in the scene today, one could easily make comparisons to Ray LaMontagne (listen to RLM’s song ‘Repo Man’ and you’ll hear the similarity.)

The other aspect of Mingo Fishtrap that makes the band so awesome is that fat sound laid down by the horns and brass section of the band. The brass and horn section is something modern day music sometimes tends to lack. And it’s a crying shame because a section like this adds another beautiful and rich shade to a band. In Mingo Fishtrap, the army of players blowing on the horns, absolutely take this record to the next level.

Mingo Fishtrap’s On Time is a killer record and since this is a band that’s not only the radar of most of you out there — do yourself a favor and change that. This album is 1000% worth your time, this is a band to fall in love with and totally get behind.

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Bill Bodkin is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Pop-Break. He can be read weekly on Trailer Tuesday and Singles Party columns and contributes regularly through out the week with reviews and interviews. His goal is to write 500 stories this year. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism & English and currently works in the world of political polling. He’s the reason there’s so much wrestling on the site and has become sucker for jazz, soul and funk in his old age. Follow him on Twitter: @PopBreakDotCom

Bill Bodkin
Bill Bodkinhttps://thepopbreak.com
Bill Bodkin is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Pop Break, and most importantly a husband, and father. Ol' Graybeard writes way too much about wrestling, jam bands, Asbury Park music, HBO shows, and can often be seen under his season DJ alias, DJ Father Christmas. He is the co-host of the Socially Distanced Podcast (w/Al Mannarino) which drops weekly on Apple, Google, Anchor & Spotify. He is the co-host of the monthly podcasts -- Anchored in Asbury, TV Break and Bill vs. The MCU.
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