Routes to Riches

Personnel: Andy Platts (vocals, guitar, oud, harmonium, keyboards, vibraphone, glockenspiel, percussion, programming, background vocals); Terry Lewis (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Dave Oliver (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer organ, synthesizer, background vocals); Julian Simmons (synthesizer, percussion, programming, background vocals); Rex Horan (bass synthesizer, bass guitar, background vocals); Jack Pollitt (drums, percussion); John Pickup, Carly Martin-Gammon, Ben Martin-Gammon, Lily Martin, Jodie May Seymour, Spyros Papageorgiou, Sammy Perrett, Michelle Lewis (hand claps, background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Jack Joseph Puig.
Recording information: Din, London.
Photographers: Steve Double; Charles Shearn.
Mamas Gun's debut album sonically falls somewhere between what you'd expect from Maroon 5 and Jamiroquai; not as broad as Maroon 5, but not as soulful as Jamiroquai. The comparison is an easy leap due to lead singer Andy Platts' familiar and frequent homage to the "blue-eyed soul" cannon, a place where recent artists like Maroon 5's Jason Mraz, Justin Timberlake, Kings of Leon's Anthony Caleb Followill, and Jamiroquai's Jay Kay periodically reside. Route to Riches owes its uniqueness to the band, a band created in today's new organic way: via the Internet search. From the wistful "You Are the Music" (featuring some airtight pop craftsmanship from Platts on the vocal arrangement) -- which toggles between a funky breakdown to an arena-ready, lighter-in-the-air rideout -- to the get-down "Finger On It," the musicianship -- especially bassist Rex Horan and drummer Jack Pollitt -- is expert. The album's closer, "Big Betty," is a sinister jam-band jam. "Let's Find a Way," like most of the album, owes a great debt to '60s and '70s Motown-era-R&B. Platts and Mamas Gun, however, give it a suitable update, even a refresher. For an album produced by a band with less than three years in the bank, Route to Riches is an admirable debut from a band that seems destined for greater commercial and artistic success. ~ Vincent Thomas