The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The CD: “Painted On” (Tone-Cool Records)
PERFORMER: The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Like colorful old friends, who are seldom up to much good but always welcome, the Fabulous Thunderbirds return with another new incarnation and another new album, but a lot of the old flavor.
The old Thunderbirds are mostly just a memory, split their separate ways years ago. Only the band’s founder/frontman Kim Wilson still holds strong and with his assembled coconspirators, they do the spirit of roadhouse rock proud.
This latest incarnation of the Fabulous Thunderbirds features much of the brassy sound that landed hits for them back in the eighties, supplemented with an early Motown influence. With songs like “Love Speaks Louder Than Words,” “Feeling My Way Around” and “Wild Cherry,” they’re not so much reinventing as updating a little. But they don’t stray far from their raucous, rockin’ Texas roots. The new stuff is catchy, fun and a perfect compliment to hot weather and cold beer,
–By Bill Lynch
