SANDY McKNIGHT w/ FERNANDO PERDOMO – San Fernando Blitz

22 Records 2021

SANDY McKNIGHT
w/ FERNANDO PERDOMO –
San Fernando Blitz

Finding good vibrations further up on the road, American sound sculptors continue their multicolored trip.

Looks like the listener is under assault now, as Messrs. McKnight and Perdomo persist in perpetrating their musical offensive, with this mini-album – which appears a few months after the duo’s first joint release, the "San Fernando Beat" EP, to outline their peppy pop-rock, or pep-rock – following its predecessor’s template in the best possible taste. Again, there are six numbers which are difficult to resist and are rather sophisticated despite the seeming simplicity of the tunes on offer, psychedelia seeping into the songs’ often glamorous surface and spicing up the record’s confectionery. And again, there’s a captivating female character and joie de vivre, yet “Blitz” gets higher on philosophy.

Of course, one would be more inclined to get infected by the parping riff and handclaps of “C’mon C’mon C’mon” whose perky, life-affirming refrain will be ringing in your ears for years, but the stereo panorama behind “Pay It Any Mind” should smear a sweet balm over any wounded soul, and “Why Make Promises?” must burrow into your marrow. Sure, it’s not that easy to render such cut as “Living On The West Side” romantic and non-parochial – only Fern’s guitar and Sandy’s bass infuse the arrangement with effortless effervescence, while McKnight’s husky voice and Perdomo’s drums and piano propel the piece along the city streets to a place where the acoustically motivated – and “My Sweet Lord”-affected – “Melody Anne” may reside. Still, the strings-drenched passages of “Seven Words” unfold in a confined space, giving this cabin essence a sense of intimacy – so much for a blitz, then.

Yet it’s clearly not the final feat of the little ensemble’s endeavors, so yes – the listener is under assault.

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March 27, 2021