Patrick Doval - Back Home (self-released)

A picture, even a moving one like a video, paints a thousand words, so they say. That might be true because as this song played, something about Patrick Doval’s look (I assume that is him in the video) fired up a light bulb moment in my mind before the music had hardly got around to getting its hooks in me.

Something about Doval’s look, demeanor, swagger, and attitude immediately made me think of the late, great Johnny Thunders. And that isn’t a bad reference point. “Back Home” is the sort of song that I could imagine Thunders putting out during his solo years, a neat blend of rock drive and addictive accessibility. Doval manages to capture that same vibe, hopefully doing so with out the same craving for chaos and a love of certain brown powders.

This is rock and roll for the modern age. Not Rock music, not that slab-like, overly-earnest, over-played music made by portly chaps with designer beards in big shorts; this is music with swing and groove, music that is so deftly put together that the light gets in, and there is room to breathe between the killer riffs and the driving backbeats, the simple but brilliantly effective bass runs (you don’t need to hear them, you just need to know they are there) and his almost world-weary, throw away, vocal salvos.

He has the look, moves, grooves, and songs. And with a handful of albums behind him, I’m surprised more people haven’t heard of Patrick Doval. Oh well, give it time.

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