The Fat Angel Sings

The political tenor of 2018 might make the year an incongruous one for a US/UK rock supergroup to call their album Everything’s Better, but don’t miss the forest for the trees. It’s precisely because the turmoil of our modern day that One Eleven Heavy, songwriters James Toth (Wooden Wand) and Nick Mitchell Maiato (Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura), along with bassist Dan Brown (Royal Trux), drummer Ryan Jewell (Solar Motel Band), and pianist Hans Chew (Steve Gunn, Hiss Golden Messenger), carve out a space for joyful noise amidst the chaos. Everything’s better when the music works, and theirs, which gleefully combines the chooge of the Band with the range of the Dead and NRBQ, works in abundance.

The debut album of this band formed by American and English musicians, inspired by the “Cosmic American Music” of the late 60’s and early 70’s. A delightful and surprising blend of psychedelic rock, folk and blues, reminiscent of bands like Crazy Horse, The Band, Little Feat, The Grateful Dead, New Rhythm and others from the West Coast American movement.