It's true that the search for the coolest rock'n'roll sounds often takes you to the strangest places. Just ask JAMES APOLLO: he dragged his two cohorts Noah Strom (drums/ keyboards) and bassist Ben Nordeen to a remote mountaintop outside Denver to record several tracks for "Sweet Unknown" when not endlessly touring the US and desperately trying to catch their breath in between.
And indeed, "Sweet Unknown" is the kind of record that can only result from countless tours and the weight of experience these shenanigans drag in their wake. Enigmatic, Minnesota-based and Arkansas-born Apollo and his two brilliant henchmen play with that incredible tight-but-loose combo sound that only the most hardened of professionals can muster and - with snooks cocked to lean, wiry '50s rock'n'roll, Latin America, Alt. Country and rockabilly - they've created a little gem of an album that should be doing anything but languishing in obscurity a year or so after its' original release.
Clocking in at an economic, but somehow just right 35 minutes or so, "Sweet Unknown" is raw, rootsy and very live in the studio, with the three main players cutting each other slack and whipping each other into shape accordingly as each song demands.
The title track is a lovely, dusty introduction with jazzy acoustic guitar and distant peals of steel, but it's a bit of a curve-thrower for much of what follows. Indeed, if you want to unearth the rock'n'roll heart of the album then try the killer tiumvirate of "Three Brothers", "Call Off The Violins" and "Crawl When You Come Down." The first recalls the diablo-fuelled rockabilly of Calexico, while "...Violins" finds Apollo screaming his lungs out with Cuban blood on his hands and "Crawl When You Come Down" is nothing less than Buddy Holly scrapping with Elvis Costello circa "Brutal Youth" and rears up with a mighty,mighty kick.
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The intuitive playing from the threesome is a joy throughout, and is no less effective when they allow further exotic spirits to pep up their intoxicating brew. To this end, you mustn't miss the dark vaudeville of "Devil Needs A Love" (which sounds like Nick Cave rewriting "St.James Infirmary"), the stinging remake of the ancient, St.Peter-defying "Sixteen Tons" (where Strom plays brushes harder than any rock drummer since Pete de Freitas) and the bruised, back porch Americana of the closing "Return Address", which makes like Paul Westerberg jamming with Elmore James. Yeah, that good. No kidding.
"Sweet Unknown" is one of those albums that just arrives out of seeming Nowheresville and blows your socks off. Whether its' draughtsmen (and this appears to be their third album) will survive and thrive indefinitely is another matter, although with the prevailing winds still fair where all things Americana are concerned, it's maybe a better bet than a decade back. Whatever the prognosis, though, this is a magnificent obscurity that should be hunted down and cherished. Gripping stuff.
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