The V-roys: Orlando Sentinel "just add ice" review

Orlando Sentinel

THE V-ROYS

Friday, Sept. 13, 1996 (c)The Orlando Sentinel

**** The V-Roys, Just Add Ice (E-Squared): It takes only about half a verse to figure out why Steve Earle wanted to sign the V-Roys to his new record label and co-produce their first album. The lead track on Just Add Ice, "I Guess I Know I'm Right," has the hard-edged twang and killer pop instincts familiar to Earle's fans. The vocals even sound a bit like Earle's—if he had spent less time carousing and more singing along with Nick Lowe records.

Not that the V-Roys of Knoxville, Tenn., sound like Earle acolytes. They merely seem to have listened to a lot of the same albums, from the Beatles to Roger Miller (who gets a thank-you in the credits). "Pounding Heart" sounds a bit like a Band ballad, minus the keyboards, with guitarists Scott Miller and Mike Harrison and bassist Paxton Sellers singing tight harmonies. "Sooner or Later" has a British power-pop/ pub-rock flavor. The bluesy, gallop "Wind Down" is a Flaming Groovies-style rockabillygarage rock hybrid. "Cry" could be the Replacements colliding with Dave Edmunds.

Lyrically, the V-Roys aren't quite up to Earle's standards, but then, there aren't many storytellers like him around. The V-Roys are refreshingly direct and unpretentious, with a sly sense of humor. Although "Cold Beer Hello" isn't quite "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Fool Out of Me)," it's easy to imagine old Jerry Lee Lewis wanting to sing along with the line "Tell the world goodbye/ cold beer, hello."

-- PARRY GETTELMAN of The Sentinel Staff