Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, but for Millington, N.J., trio Wiser Time, the saying takes on a whole new meaning. The band is obviously influenced by the Black Crowes, and if they weren’t so damn good, it might be fair to call them copycats and too retro — a charge that was often leveled at the Crowes in their early days.
Operating from a three-man outfit (Carmen Sclafani on vocals, guitars and harmonica; Steve Decker on drums and percussion; Jon Cornell on bass), the band captures a stripped-down sound that fires on all cylinders. The songwriting is solid and — dare I say it? — some of their material is as good as the Black Crowes.
If you scrape some of the grit from Chris Robinson’s voice and knock Rich Robinson’s amps back a notch, you’d be sitting squarely in Wiser Time territory. For its sophomore release, titled “All For One,” the band settles into a bluesy groove punctuated by old-school classic rock riffs.
Frontman Sclafani is an excellent guitarist and perhaps an even better vocalist, but it’s the songs that shine on “All For One.” “Hammer Down,” “Even” and “Crawling Floor” all take their cues from the soulful swagger of bands like the Rolling Stones, Free and early Led Zeppelin. In a welcome change of pace, the acoustic “A Long Time Gone” breaks out the 12-string guitars and mandolins for an emotional ballad that gives the CD the right amount of balance.
The album rolls to a close with the slow blues of “Blame It All On Me,” but not before the raw slide guitar on “Floating Blues” rips things up one more time. Although the CD clocks in at just 36 minutes, not a single note is wasted.
It would be easy to write off Wiser Time as a retread of old Humble Pie and Faces riffs, but the original material actually plays well against the big boys. Bottom line is that if you have even a mild attraction to the first Black Crowes album (“Shake Your Moneymaker”) “All For One” from Wiser Time — itself a Black Crowes song title — will not disappoint.
Rating: W W W
