Michael Messer & Chaz Jankel – Mostly We Drive: Album Review

By John Barlass on 22nd February 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Slide guitar supremo meets Blockhead-in-Chief. Result: A funny, funky, multi-faceted gem of an album.

Release Date: 19^th January 2024

Label: Knife Edge Records/ Proper Music

Formats: CD, Digital

Friends ever since the early days of the Blockheads, it took a global pandemic and a draconian lockdown to encourage these two musical giants Michael Messer – blues innovator and master of the slide guitar – and Chaz Jankel – funk firestarter and Blockhead-in-Chief – to mix a mug of musical magic together.

It all started in early March 2020, when the seeds that would flower into Mostly We Drive – the pair’s debut album together – were sown, at an exploratory get-together in Chaz’s home studio. The formative ideas that took root that day were developed throughout lockdown with each of the pair working remotely – Chaz laying down the musical frameworks and Michael honing the lyrics – and, by September 2021, the duo were ready to start laying down tracks for their album – a process that went on for the next 12-months or so.

In a career that’s lasted around forty years (and counting), Michael Messer has developed a reputation as a fearless blues innovator and a slide guitarist of unparalleled talent. Reggae, African and Hindustani influences and even turntablism are among the stylings that he’s incorporated into his blues explorations and the ten albums he has under his belt have received widespread acclaim, including a stunning accolade from Johnny Cash, no less.

Chaz Jankel is, of course, no stranger to these pages. Best known for his work with Ian Dury and the Blockheads – he was co-writer and arranger of such classics as Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll, What a Waste, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Reasons to Be Cheerful Part 3, he also has a string of deliciously funky solo albums to his name (see our review of his Glad to Know You anthology here), his song, Ai No Corrida (from his eponymous solo debut album) was a hit for Quincy Jones and he’s accumulated an impressive list of composer credits for movie soundtracks, including K2 and D.O.A. And, happily, he continues to tour with The Blockheads.

Chaz Jankel (l) and Michael Messer (r) [pic: Aubrey Simpson]

With their differing musical backgrounds, preferences and priorities, it was inevitable that a few creative tensions would arise when Michael and Chaz sat down together to refine their ideas and Michael readily accepts that such tensions helped to move their music in a positive direction, explaining that the challenges that the pair issued to each other were instrumental in producing some great music. Chaz has been only too willing to concur with that view, adding: “That’s been the journey throughout making this album. There is a cross-over point where our different musical orientations chime, and here it is. During our recent photo session, as the camera clicked away, we played through these songs – two guitars, or one guitar and one piano. They felt SO good to play. The path continues…”

Providing further insight to the creative process, Michael added: “The lyrics on this album, although written by me, were inspired by ideas that came from both of us whilst talking about all kinds of things, but with themes often relating to the state of our world and how time becomes so precious as we grow older.”

And the result? Well – someone’s already come up with the description: A philosophical, funny, funky, multi-facetted gem of an album, and that’s a description that, I believe, nails it. As you’d expect, there are copious servings of blues, all embellished by musical and lyrical twists that, for example, stamp a steadfastly 2024 British trademark on the product, or inject a surreal element to proceedings. There’s also a healthy chunk of Blockheads-like funk to be enjoyed and even a touch of pastoral English whimsy – and, despite the sometimes sticky subject matter of the lyrics, humour is seldom very far below the surface.

And Michael and Chaz have done the whole thing almost without outsider help. Michael takes on the vocal responsibilities and plays some of the finest slide, lap steel and rhythm guitar that you’re likely to hear this year. Chaz plays guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion, as well as stepping forward to deliver backing vocals as and when required. Indeed, the only additional help the pair have commissioned comes from Ric Parnell, who plays drums on one track. And it all fits together wonderfully.

Opening track, Runaway Train, is propelled along in glorious fashion by an authentic express train rhythm. Shuffling drums and thudding bass are topped off by Michael’s soaring slide guitar licks and the slides and swirls of Chaz’s organ. Michael’s vocals are close-up and personal as he delivers his lyrics – which aren’t about a train at all, but about losing, then retrieving, control of your life. It’s a model that’s put to good use throughout the album.

The shuffling rhythm continues for the Cajun-like Slow Down Billy. Michael’s lyrics bemoan the pace and frustrations of every life, using phrases like “A little bird told me about a nest of vipers/ All I see before me are stereotypers” and “Nobody knew it was Russian roulette/ That was way back when, before the internet,” and it’s impossible to resist shaking a limb or two, especially when Michael and Chaz swop guitar licks during the song’s coda.

The hazards of driving – including delays, roadside police checks, oppressive heat and black ice – are used as metaphors for life’s obstacles in the lyrics to the album’s wonderful title track. It’s hilarious, too, with lines like “Trapped in the traffic in this old tin can/ Just like a wasp, I’m stuck in the jam” and “When I pull over to the side of the road, will they want my driver’s license or my genetic code?” and it’s all dressed as an easy-going, lazy blues, laced with Michael’s tortuous slide guitar lines.

Michael’s well-considered and thoroughly accurate lyrics to It Doesn’t Matter aim a deserved punch at the way our leaders lie and abuse the privileges that their positions afford them. Indeed, lines like: “It makes no difference if you’re head of state/ It makes no difference if you legislate/ It doesn’t matter if you fake the news/ It doesn’t matter if you break the rules,” invite the listener to play ‘spot the protagonist,’ such is the applicability of those words to most of our current leaders. And the music is formidable, rich and heavy – built around a solid bassline, Michael’s guitar riff and some nice flourishes from Chaz’s organ.

The electrifying I Have Seen the Light is probably my pick of the album. The voodoo-laced guitar theme, the tight bass and drums and the soaring slide guitar remind me of Ry Cooder, whilst the lyrics – describing a journey through darkness, evil and possession into light, peace and contentment are pure Dr. John. Which all makes for a stark contrast to the tranquillity of Arcadia, the album’s only instrumental track. It’s the perfect showcase for Michael’s divine slide guitar soloing and the backing is balanced and subtle, ensuring that the spotlight stays right where it belongs – on that slide guitar. It’s a tune that I’ll hopefully be relishing on a sunny, lazy Sunday afternoon sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Stream-of-consciousness spoken-word lyrics and a solid dose of signature Chaz Jankel funk take us right back to the glory days of Ian Dury and the Blockheads for Music Brings Us Closer Together, another of the album’s real highlights. But – it’s Blockheads with a bit of a twist, as Michael adds his wonderful, bluesy electric slide guitar to mix, and it works a treat! And – there’s also a Blockheads feel to the funky Blues Maker. This time, Chaz’s electric piano grabs the attention as he goes head-to-head with Michael’s slide guitar.

Chaz switches to bar-room piano for the sumptuous, laid-back blues of Bloodline, an optimistic song that articulately celebrates the reasons we all have for being here in the first place in its refrain: “Well the world keeps turning, it just won’t stop/ We’d better start behaving or we’ll have to get off/ There’s so much beauty when I look around/ We got stars in the sky and flowers on the ground.”

There’s a final serving of funk in Visions Of Hope, a song that takes another swipe at the incompetent, self-serving politicians that we’ve managed to saddle ourselves with. The lyrics do offer a shred of hope, as they declare: “There will be a rainbow after the rain,” although, this time, the hope feels like it’s in short supply. The music is gorgeous, though, with lots of hi-hat, an insistent piano figure and rumbling bass all providing an irresistible funky foundation.

And, in a way, all the lyrical messages and the musical synergies of the Michael/Chaz partnership reach full fruition with the album’s bluesy closing track, Time Well Spent. The classic acoustic slide guitar blues riff is the perfect medium for the advice the song has to offer: “Spend your time well/ In this world we behold/ Life is short and precious/ Be hot, before you get cold.” In other words: Enjoy Every Sandwich.

A philosophical, funny, funky, multi-faceted gem of an album. I’ll buy that.

Back in November 2023, At The Barrier was proud to premier the official video to Mostly We Drive, the album’s title track. You can watch that video again here: