Call it the Second Wave of jam-band music, when the histories are written.
And place this local five-piece supergroup at the head of that wave, both musically
and chronologically; they may only now be making the kind of noise that gets
heard beyond frat parties and music festivals, but Juice have been mixing deep-fat
NOLA funk, rock dynamics, and blues-jazz improv for as long as most folks out
there on the circuit. The irony of this, their first live release, is that
they sound almost anonymous; the talent here is undeniable, but their studio
albums are smarter platters than many of those other standard groove exercises.
This time, not so much.

If all you want is that groove, then stop reading here, because they always
bring it, and this two-CD set, recorded at gigs from Atlanta to Asheville,
North Carolina to the Maple Leaf, is no exception. How could it be, with a
lineup of jam-band vets and new addition Joe Krown on organ and piano? The
band takes on Joe’s own “Livin’ Large,” segues from
their own songs into a punchy take on Bill Quateman’s “Back By
The River” and a nearly unrecognizable version of Louis Jordan’s “Saturday
Night Fish Fry,” tackles Taj Mahal and Bill Withers, and cooks up a fierce
version of what it calls “fresh organic funk” in general. Krown
adds another dimension to what was already an impressive collective, introducing “My
Neighbors” with some Fess-style piano and locking into a wicked doubletime
on “River” with the band’s longtime MVP, drummer and Preservation
Hall alum Aron Lambert.

But like a muscleman grown too big for his own good, the sheer vitality of
the funk tends to obliterate the nuances of the songs themselves, even the
covers. It wouldn’t be a problem if these guys were just another bar
band, but this CD’s own liner notes assert, correctly, that 2002’s
All Lit Up album let Juice “successfully forge its own identity as a
roots-rock band.” You wouldn’t know it from the workouts here,
but no matter. The amiable-from-the-title-down Hey Buddy will no doubt gain
the band some more converts from shut-ins who don’t do the scene, but
you’ll have to wait for the next studio album to determine whether this
quintet is really their own band… or just another good reason to go drink.