Tom Mess Releases A Warm and Honest Americana Record
- BuzzSlayers
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
An album release from Tom Mess delivers a great blend of what many would consider alt-Country, Americana, elements of folk, and straight-up rock, all blended with this massive set of instrumentation and personality attached to just about every track.
The record is called Pretty Messed (Full Band), and rightfully so, as this is indeed a full-band effort and everyone's energies are so in tune with each other it's incredible.
The record opens up with a track called "Cord Sherpa", which gives a certain kind of classic rock feel almost right off the bat. You can already hear how the drumming sits firmly in the pocket but also adds a great drive to the song, and believe me when I tell you the mix of those drums is intense.
The snare drum is boisterous and really gives the song a punch.
The classic rock feel comes from that guitar work, especially. They do still have a great twang to them; they're not fully distorted, but they're not clean either, and they give you this sort of warmth along with the bass guitar and everything else that reminds me of classic rock I grew up listening to on the radio.
To me, this is Heartland rock.
All American rock music with loads of Southern undertone laced throughout it, giving it this welcoming or inviting sort of feel.
The vocals come through with a great balance and complement the instruments amazingly, as they tell stories and feed him further into that classic rock in Americana style.
Songs like 'This Trap" lean much farther into the Country influence with what sounds like lap steel or pedal steel. This is an instrument very often used in southern music like country in Americana, and with this track they use it in such a great way, because it focuses more on deeper notes rather than higher.
Normally when a lap steel is used, you hear loads of high notes in there, but with this one it sounds almost reminiscent of a slide guitar because the notes are much deeper.
This definitely had that sort of country grit to it. The vocals give you that storytelling feel, and everything has a slightly rustic underbelly to it, which is kind of the point of the song in general.
I love this aesthetic because it's so authentic.
Other tracks definitely hit a heavy-handed country feel kind of like this one. One of those is probably my favorite track on the record, "Turn On A Dime".
This track has such a righteous energy to it. It's very infectious and it's got these addictive vocal performances throughout it that I really loved.
I have to say, the guitar work across this record is absolutely outstanding. The sound and tonality of those guitars vary here and there throughout the record's course, simply because different songs are meant to give you different vibes.
However, all in all, the performances are just perfection. They always set the mood for the lyrics and come through with the right amount of twang so that they're always holding on to that southern tone but never letting it get overboard.
It's amazing how this record manages to blend classic rock, country, and Americana, along with some folk elements, so well.
The whole album has a particular way of putting you in the moment with the songs themselves.
Some of them get pretty personal, but all of them tell some stories, and I think that's a huge attribute as to why the record has the kind of addictive qualities it does.
It's an album that displays a lot of character, and that's something you end up getting attached to along the way.
This whole thing was wonderfully woven and definitely performed with heart, and the synergy behind the players on the record is another reason why the whole soundscape of it comes through the way it does.
The tones of the instruments, along with the songwriting and performances, all have a way of wrapping themselves around you and keeping you right where they want to.
I definitely wonder whether or not there is a version of this record or several songs from it that are not full-band but rather solo performances with just Tom and a guitar.
I'll have to do some digging to find out, but from the digging I've already done, some other releases are absolutely outstanding, and you should definitely check those out as well.
This was one of the more lush records I've heard in a while. The instruments have an amazing way of complimenting each other; the vocals come through with a semi-graceful approach but still with that classic, rustic, Southern soul that you want from songs like these.
This is a record I would suggest listening to all the way through, in one shot.
Some of the songs, like the ones I've mentioned already, certainly stand on their own two feet very well as singles; however, listening to the full record all the way through is the best way to go.
Listening to just a few won't give you the full spectrum the whole album has to offer.
So, dive into this record as soon as you can, especially if you're a fan of classic country, Americana, alternative country, or even classic rock with some soul to it.
This record provides it all.
Remember where you heard it first.
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