Friendship- Ain’t no Shame (Bilocation Records ARTIFACT 42)

The funky soul rock trio from Norway are back with the 2^nd full length record. I reviewed their first 7” way back and it is cool they are still around to rock the joint, even though this album is more moody, diverse and not as energetic. Are you Ready starts things off with a short track that could have been on an early Grand Funk Railroad record or a recent Golden Grass record, except they probably would have jammed it out more than 1.49. Gypsy kicks the tempo up and features some cool drumming and a hard driving bass line. Check out the full track below.

Next up is the title track, Ain’t no Shame.  It is a bit more relaxed and has a happy vibe to it and the main guitar riff is a heavy mirror of the bass line and there is a short guitar solo and some wah to mix things up. Harmony turns to Sound starts off bluesy and then gets a bit funky and later a surprise of some horns to make it more soul like.  Got me feeling so Good is another pretty relaxed track with some nice backing vocals. A song to bring a smile to your face! Moments is a very relaxed ballad with some acoustic guitar, keys and horns and later a very nice long solo, on the only long track on the album (over 6 mins). Great track. Fire kicks the energy back up with another track with this short stop start rhythm that Radio Moscow use it a lot. Alaksa Night is a strange song (lyrically) and they experiment with different things but the bass line keeps things dark. The end really rocks out on that bass line. Live Peacefully features Rohey (female with a great voice) on backing vocals on this uptempo funky track with some nice wah guitar, female vocals, and horns. Truth in your Lies ends the album with a slow , bluesy and bass heavy track with some powerful singing in the acapella part.  My fave songs on this album are the longest ones like this last one where the band try new things and experiment a bit. Some of the material on this album really reminds me of the Norwegian band, Cato Salsa Experience and also the Swedish band, Gin Lady.

http://friendshipnorway.no/

https://www.facebook.com/friendshipnorway

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