Although Mike Jacoby offers hints of Americana and even rockabilly throughout his third solo offering, the record is still firmly planted in the world of rootsy rock and roll.
Jacoby cites folk troubadour Todd Snider as an inspiration for Long Beach Calling, but it’s just as easy to pick out influences from folks like John Fogerty and The BoDeans here. The opening song, the rollicking title track with its Johnny Cash-like rumbling train guitar sound sets a high bar for the rest of the songs that follow. And while that one is easily the album’s high mark, there are still plenty of other great songs spread throughout the record, like the lyrically savvy “Pine Box” and the superb “Just In Case,” sounding like a long lost Kinks rarity.
The album gets weighed down a bit toward the end with a handful of less-inspired tracks (like the mediocre “BBQ Pit” or the unnecessary “Play Like Richards,” an answer to Maroon 5’s long-since forgotten “Moves Like Jagger”); But not so much that it takes away from the highlights that dominate the rest of the record.
Mike Jacoby – Long Beach Calling /11 tracks/Self-Released /2019 / Domain /