The 70s Are Back -- In A Good Way

EDITOR'S NOTE:
I was all wrong about how long Reef has been around. I corrected the oversight in this post.

Just when I never thought I would hear sounds like this again.

I mean, there are plenty of new bands that incorporate retro sounds and textures into their work, but what rock band even does gospel anymore? And how many singers have the pipes to stand up to a full gospel choir?

Gary Stringer of Reef, for one. Stringer's vocals are more Axl Rose than Lou Gramm, and the contrast with the rollicking keyboards (piano and organ!), handclaps, and Dominic Greensmith's propulsive, no-nonsense drumming is delicious. No other band sounds like this, and in this age of cookie-cutter "artists", half-baked on increasingly-dull vocal competition shows, that's a genuine triumph. The only thing missing is the sound of Jesse Wood's guitar (Yeah, he's Ronnie Wood's boy, and Reef's newest member, having joined in 2014).

These guys have had some good luck; they opened up for Coldplay just last week. But they've been laboring in semi-obscurity for well over a decade, and they deserve a higher profile. I'm just doing my part.

Oh, and before you start whingeing as they say in the U.K. -- it's almost onomatopoeic, isn't it? -- about how I, as a Christian, shouldn't be endorsing "worldly" types who take the Jesus out of Jesus music ... don't.

Here's Reef, with a song popularized by gospel great, Clara Ward -- "How I Got Over".