The Double Doghouse

hello folks! today’s music review is of Room 41, the 2019 record from Texan singer Paul Cauthen. let’s dig in!

Holy Ghost Fire contrasts a lil bit of religious imagery with a philanderer and conman, and the result is a track thats thematically close to Genesis’s Jesus He Knows Me. big fan of this song lyrically, and its got real fun vibes musically. Praying For Rain is a very nice, mellow moment – i do like the musical take on “care what you wish for” and dreaming bout the future. and its a good thing we got that mellow moment, since Cocaine Country Dancing ramps it right back up. gotta say Cauthen wears this sleazier, funkier vibe really well, haha. the strutting guitar on the choruses is my fave – you just get a lil sting of it, its real good. Slow Down is a real good track – i think it ramps up a lil too slowly for me, but when it hits its stride just before the 2 minute mark, i really really like this one. Big Velvet is a really interesting song – i keep expecting the shoe to drop and it to start belting, but then again i guess we dont meet Big Velvet yet, huh. Can’t Be Alone is fine. the crooning’s good here but the song doesnt really hook me. Freak is a real good track about folks in prison. really dig the “freaks like me” as a lil twist in the chorus – good outsider song, haha. Angel is just fine right up until the larger version of the chorus, which absolutely kicks ass, lyrically and vocally. the “falling in your halo now” is delivered excellently. Give ’em Peace does some real neat stuff, and was one of the earlier tracks to grab my attention. Lay Me Down is an appropriate closer and well performed, but not one of my faves here for sure.

faves – Holy Ghost Fire, Cocaine Country Dancing, Slow Down, Big Velvet, Freak
dislikes –

yeah this was a great record. Cauthen’s voice is a very classically husky style, and he really knows how to squash and stretch it. the more ballady, intimate tracka work well, but its the sleazier tracks that really shine for me here. instrumentally, there’s an extremely strong backbone of performances, and a few places where they really shine in the choruses or bridges. big fan of this one, and definitely one i’ll be revisiting in the future.

Room 41 – 8/10

support the artist by checking this out on Bandcamp!

for the next Weekly Album Review, i’ll be listening to Lucky Chops, by Lucky Chops. i’ll be back next Friday, November 24th with that review and to pick another weekly record, and in the meantime, let me know what album you’d like me to review! (i pool all suggestions in one place, and draw a person, then one pick from that person, so feel free to drop as many as you’d like! if you leave an email or username i’ll contact you when i’ve gotten through all your suggestions.)