Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Tearing at the Seams
(Stax Records)
4/5
After two and a half years, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats have just released their second album, Tearing at the Seams, and it was worth the wait.
This is a timeless album, listenable from start to finish. Rateliff and company bring a full sound reminiscent of the Stax records of old, and it definitely belongs in the storied label’s catalogue. The band brings the funk right out of the gate with the driving instrumental work on opener “Shoe Boot,” and they don’t look back from there. The power and growl of Rateliff’s voice complements the polished ’60s horn sound on cuts like “Hey Mama.” “Still Out There Running” shows that Rateliff hasn’t forgotten where he came from, and that he hasn’t abandoned his folk roots.
Rateliff makes no effort to replicate the surprise hit, “S.O.B.”, that made the band’s 2015 self-titled album go platinum in Canada. But that’s just fine, because as a whole, Tearing at the Seams is the stronger of the two albums.