Clifton Williams and the Blue James Band bill themselves as “a rock, reggae, folk, and funk train riding through the world of music,” but if their second album is any indication, they’re really more like a smoky old VW bus aimlessly rolling through Humboldt County. WILL is brah rock of the first order, the kind of stuff you expect to hear blaring from the second story of a frat house on a Sunday afternoon (perhaps not coincidentally, the album contains a song titled “Sunday Afternoon”). Williams’ claims to rock, reggae, folk, and funk influences ring clearly enough over the course of these 13 tracks, but they’re all employed in the service of an extremely mellow vibe that renders them all more or less inert. It’s to Williams’ credit that most of the songs hover around the four-minute mark – most of the jamming is saved for the drawn-out closing track, “My New Window” – but they still feel curiously drawn out; the melodies wander, and the arrangements are full of noodly chord progressions that will be overly familiar to anyone who’s ever listened to a Dave Matthews Band album. And unless you really are a college student in your 20s, it’s probably best if you don’t look at the lyrics, which are heavy with searchin’-for-myself platitudes like ”Down this path I walk with uncertain steps / The life I live is a life built on hopeful promises.” In other words, don’t expect too much from WILL, but it’s excellent music for a barbecue, or the soundtrack of Matthew McConaughey’s next movie. (Chappy Payne Records 2008)
