Casually kick-ass
Isn't it great when you're not expecting anything and, without warning, discover something totally kick-ass? A few months back I caught Owsley live at the Paradise Lounge in Boston. The Redwalls (whom I'd never heard of up to that point) were the opening act and they were the something that kicked-ass.

About 30 minutes before they were to go on stage, The Redwalls casually rolled in, dumped their stuff on stage, did a BRIEF set-up and disappeared until show time. When the time came, they stepped up to the proverbial plate and smashed an over-the-Green-Monster homerun on their first swing. Despite looking very young, the quartet obviously knew what they were doing and rocked the house in their stylish-suited attire.

It's literally like they hopped on stage, flipped some inner switch, and managed to increase the energy in the room exponentially.

As original as the need to be
Imagine a youthful Bob Dylan fronting the Beatles and you've got a really shallow (but reasonably accurate) description of The Redwalls, who were semi-recently signed to Capitol Records. I'm sure a lot of people must bursh them off as unoriginal knock-off artists, but seeing them live , you just get the vibe that they're doing what they love.

The music speaks for itself. I can't stress enough how much their debut release Universal Blues (on Undertow records), is worth buying. If you need a sample first, hit The Redwalls' site for some MP3s. They're as tight as any band I've heard. I love the fact that they keep things simple and familiar yet manage to sounds absolutely brilliant in the process.

On the web: The Redwalls homepage