Greezy Joe Kicks Out The Tropical Rock Jams With Sail On

Man, with a name like Greezy Joe and the Cheap and Easy Band, how could three guys go wrong? While the lyrics to Greezy Joe's trop rock debut album, Sail On, certainly aren't Jimmy Buffet class when it comes to cleverness, verbal dexterity, and turn of a phrase, there are moments on this album that make you go, "Gosh darn, it's good to be alive today." One of the favorites around here is the song "Tap Dancing Down Jackass Alley," which is a good as anything the aforementioned Captain Buffett has ever done.

Other highlights are "Rum," "Hot and Bothered," "Back to the Island," and "Sail On." On the downside is the schmaltzy, "She's My Hero," inspired by the Jessica Lynch POW incident but, since Joe is an ex-navy pilot, we'll give him points for effort. The whole thing sounds like a fourth grade writing assignment to us.

A funny choice was to include interludes between songs, dialogue snippets between band members, where they discuss issues of utmost importance like:

1. Where are Joe's pants?
2. What to do when you're 4 hours late for the recording session?
3. Exactly whom should be kicked out of the band?
4. Which non-songwriter should get to have a song on the album?
5. How to raise the hotness level of band groupies?

While this initial effort from Greezy Joe and compadres sounds underproduced and home-studio-ish at times, especially when compared to Buffett's 943 piece band and 7,000 layered tracks of multi-million dollar sound, who cares? This is good stuff, with an island vibe from start to finish. The day we stumbled across Greezy Joe was a good one. There are too few island balladeers putting out good music these days, and Bubba's not getting any younger. After a couple of listens, you'll likely start to skip a few tracks but the ones you focus one provide plenty of tropical, feel good, kick back in the hammock with a bottle of Captain Morgan's, two liter of Mountain Dew, and spend a few hours loosely focused on the horizon sort of vibe.

I ain't a music expert but I know what I like. You can put this release from Greezy Joe and the Cheap and Easy band right up there with minor luminaries of the tropical music scene like Howard Livingston. We hear Joe's two subsequent releases began to tilt toward the country side, which makes me a mite nervous, but I'll reserve judgment until I give them a listen. Get back to you later on that. For now, if you're a Buffett fan who's worn out his seventh copy of Margaritaville, there's a very good chance you'll find something on this collection of songs to like.