IN LAYMAN TERMS
TANGLED
IN LAYMAN TERMS RECORDS
TANGLED–FAKE IT TIL I MAKE IT–DON’T EVEN TRY–HEARTBROKEN–I’M NOT READY–SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING–WON’T LET IT–KARMA–MOVE OVER
It has been our pleasure in recent weeks to carry the torch for the youth in contemporary blues, by posting reviews elsewhere in this forum for the likes off Lauren Anderson, Danielle Nicole, and several others. We proudly add to that list siblings Cole and Logan Layman, billed as In Layman Terms, and their killer debut, “Tangled.” They wrote five of these nine cuts, with Cole on guitars and Logan on bass and vocals.
That’s the impressive thing about this band–Logan has a natural maturity in her voice that belies her youth, and Cole is a firestorm on guitar. And, they are equally as compelling as a duo, trio, or in a big-band format, as several cuts herein utilize a full horn section! That sound leads off in the title cut, as the horns lend a Stax-style groove as Logan sings to a lover, “I’d rather be Tangled up than free in a world without you!” She passes on to all of us a lesson well-learned in the slow-blues of “Fake It Til I Make It,” where you “laugh and the world laughs with you, cry, and you cry alone.” This one has some sweet B-3 from Brian Kloppenburg, and young Cole channels his inner Buddy Guy on a real mother of a solo. He nails that killer riff on acoustic guitar as sis howls like the Wolf himself on a raw, primitive “Smokestack Lightning,” capturing the core of what this song is all about. “Won’t Let It” is a swingin’ dance floor shuffle, and Cole rocks the cigar box guitar on the snarl and growl of “Karma is a bitch!” They close the set with Logan bringin’ the soul on a sweet read of Janis Joplin’s “Move Over,” with shimmering slide from Cole.
Our favorite was one of the things that make these young folks so special. Logan goes into full-on defiance mode as Cole paints the sonic picture in “Heartbroken,’ where she tells a worthless lover, plain and simple, “to Hell with you, too!”
In Layman Terms love playing the blues, and love entertaining folks. Logan and Cole’s youthful exuberance is all over “Tangled,” and it’ll rub off on you—it’s contagious! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
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