Guitarist Brian Olive is best known for his pivotal role in garage rock revivalists The Greenhornes and The Soledad Brothers. But being in two of everything apparently wasn’t enough and somewhere around 2009 Olive stepped out on his own recording a self-titled solo album that explored jazz, R&B, and blues much the way Paul Weller did and continues to do. Now, two years after that release, Olive is back with is second solo effort, Two of Everything, and he continues to develop that blues/jazz/funk template with some additional psychedelic flourishes.
Almost Weller-ish in its reach and depth, much of Two of Everything is laden with soulful vocals, rhythm and blues flourishes, jazzy touches and loads of 60’s-70’s like sounds. This is a modern, vintage record that clearly wants to be part of the past. With horns blazing, organs blaring, and grooves bubbling up, Brian Olive constructs fantastic slices of retro-rock that wouldn’t have been out of place in 1974. This is good stuff that’s rich and intriguing but still very much rock and roll.
Brian Olive has apparently done a lot of growing up over the last two years and two albums he’s recorded. Gone are the days of raw rock and roll, they’ve been replaced with well thought out journeys that subtly rock. Two of Everything is not a drunken night out but rather a long strange trip over many nights and that’s what makes it so good.
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