Electric piano always puts me in mind of ’70s rock; maybe it was overused during that era, or maybe I’ve got repressed memories revolving around some AM hit or other. Zachary Warnes’s “Do You” renders this moot. I mention music of the ’70s not only because “Do You” pays tribute to so much of that era’s best music, but because it’s practically an instructional guide for modern bands wanting to evoke that ethos. Indeed, “Do You” may be the greatest song Neil Young never wrote–arrangement-wise, anyway, for there isn’t a single yowl to be found in Warnes’s voice; on the contrary, his rich tenor sounds like it was made to ask such introspective questions, rhetorical or otherwise. Those questions begin with the title phrase and ultimately ask the listener if they rely on themselves “to feel good.”
Warnes uses rock music tricks such as the aforementioned electric piano, a slow-but-steady beat, some great bass playing, and the set-up, or a drum tacit just long enough to hit one’s sweet spot when a hi-hat tap and fill bring everything back full force. For me, the song’s key element is the dirty lead guitar that functions as arrangement dressing but begins to act out more and more until the 3-and-a-half minute mark, at which point the listener is treated to a bona fide rock solo.
With “Do You,” Zachary Warnes proves that rock ‘n’ roll will never die; it simply needs capable and loving hands in which to flourish.
Join us for the Ball of Wax 54 show on November 23rd at Conor Byrne to hear a full set or rock ‘n’ roll from Zach and his band.
Nice. This review made me listen to this song with entirely different ears.