Hoots Deuce is a cross section of the last half century of music wrapped up in a motown medley backed by R&B soul sisters. The EP constantly defies expectations as it swerves from one genre to another from one minute to the next.
Pistol George Warren are a Sudbury, Ontario band known for their genre-bending music and their fourth release sweeps across blues rock, jive, doo-wop, surf rock, bluegrass country, soul and country rock through the EP’s six tracks. Hoots Deuce is a fun excursion back through time while recombining and remixing the various sounds of North American music history.
Their first song begins the EP with a combination of motown blues, soul and traditional rock ‘n’ roll that’s got a distinctly 1950s feel to it. From there it explores a little more jive and a little more country in “No Love.” The song “Blue Hawaii” jumps to the west coast with a doo-wop-style song that’s a reminder of some of Elvis Presley’s rock ‘n’ roll and The Beach Boys’ surf rock. “Bobcat” follows up with some more prominent surf rock in the vein of the Surfaris and The Beach Boys with hints of bluegrass. Then the album turns country with “Can You Get That,” with the kind of modern country rock sound heard from Big & Rich, The Road Hammers or Trace Adkins — with a little bit of soul mixed in that makes part of the track reminiscent of the Rolling Stones’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The album wraps up with some twangy southern blues.
Covering so many different genres even within individual songs does feel a bit incongruous at times. Each of the songs are fun to listen to on their own, but they are often slightly too different from each other to enjoy in one sitting. Best bet is to enjoy each on its own.