Ain’t Who I Was

Los Angeles-based The Disreputable Few’s powerful debut full-length, Ain’t Who I Was, is a high-octane mix of progressive blues-rock delivered via crafty songs featuring fine twin-lead guitar licks. Excellent production, plus band maturity/cohesiveness result in a comfortable, easy flow throughout, even as the band serves up euphoric, heady jams such as “Peace Pipe” and “California Calling” (“Earthquakes, legal weed, make it interesting, you see/From Compton to Yosemite, California is the remedy”). With twangy, finely cultivated guitar licks propped up by an impressive rhythm section, the album has moments reminiscent of Joe Walsh’s heyday, such as on the title track that is offered in both electric and acoustic versions to open and close the album. There are also moments reminiscent of Tom Petty, as on the mid-tempo “Hang On,” though the album’s promo materials make a different comparison: “Think of them as a new take on the Gov’t Mule paradigm.” And the band’s collective résumé bears out that jam side-project flavor, with studio and concert work alongside the likes of Butch Trucks, Bob Weir, Warren Zevon and Billy Gibbons.