Sadly, A Strange Arrangement, the debut album from Mayer Hawthorne & The County doesn’t come out til Sept 8 (Stones Throw) Lucky for us, we got the chance to check out the man’s first NYC show with a band last week at Santos Party House. If you don’t know Hawthorne’s name by now, it’s time to get familiar. The 30-year-old singer channels his love of vintage soul into an earnest, updated version on the classics (think Stevie or Smokey with breakbeats.)
Last time Hawthorne came to town, James Pants was with him but, alas, the band was not. Tonight, despite flight delays that nearly derailed certain members, all were present and accounted for and the group locked in well for a band that’s only played together a handful of times. On record, Hawthorne vacillates between sweet soul crooner and Otis Redding-lovin’ rabble rouser. Live, the latter was in effect, as Hawthorne gamely worked the crowd like a preacher consistently asking for reassurance from his congregants.
With all members matching up sartorially (more or less), it was hard not to conjure up classic 60s soul showcases, and if Hawthorne didn’t seem so genuinely damn earnest about his art, it’d be easy to see the khakis, cardigan and Rivers Cuomo glasses and assume–wrongly–white-boy hipster posturing. But unlike certain groups, Hawthorne and company’s sound lean more toward the Daptone crew than any ironic leanings; it’s the sound of a group, revivalist though they might be, with an obvious reverence and respect for the past while still able to update with modern flourishes. Yeah, Hawthorne threw in fresh covers of Isley Brothers’ “Work to Do” and Kool and the Gang’s “Hollywood Swinging,” but he also rocked a quick (impromptu?) cover of M.I. A.’s “Paper Planes,” deftly showing that no matter what the song, you can make it funky.
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