Paul Mark & the Van Dorens play a blues rock that reaches back for rockabilly jump and soul/R&B swagger. On their most recent album, Blood & Treasure, they continue as the unsung, under the radar band with great rocking songs that really should be populating media on many levels.
“Everything is Nothing” rides along on a vibe and fun couplets (“The Taj Mahal, that’s just a pile of bricks…everything is nothing after you”). The soulful “Don’t Get Me Started” is pushed along very well by backup singers Susan Marshall and Jackie Johnson who raise the soul up a notch.
“Perp Walk” is some funk soul served on a bed of Santana-like percussion. While a toy piano acts as intro and outro for the song, the center features some wickedly blazing guitar riffs from Mark. “Raise the Roof” could be a new soul classic with Mark doing a little Gospel-type preaching (“If you don’t have that bedrock, that foundation of love, how you goin’ to build it?”). Going back for some good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll like the Traveling Wilburies and the Spanic Boys, “Lotta Things to Say” tells the tale of a guy with the gift of gab.
The soul jam of “Feed the Machine” takes it to the man by saying we’ve just got to join the team—ironic words from a hard working man outside the industry’s inner circle. As a coup de grace, he then lays down another blistering guitar solo.
