Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble, Zydeco Confessions (Louisiana Soul Records)

Curley Taylor, album cover, OffBeat Magazine, May 2014

Ask Curley Taylor where he fits in the zydeco circuit these days and he’ll talk about being an artist having to satisfy both the local crowd and the old-school contingent on the road. So naturally, one might surmise that Zydeco Confessions would reflect that split-demographic blend but actually it’s skewed, by design, towards the younger, local crowd with its heavy urban influences.

Overall, the ambience is breezy, loose and sensuous with “Don’t Rush It All Baby” being the prettiest melody of all. Instead of recording most of the parts himself like some zydeco artists do, Taylor & Zydeco Trouble here played and sang live so the band’s impact would be felt full force (“Kidnapper”).

Listening to this baker’s dozen of tracks, it’s evident that zydeco is changing, which Taylor acknowledges on the soft-and-dreamy “Changing Up Tha Zydeco.” Several tracks are hot and lusty, “Good Time Tonite” and especially “How Many Licks Does It Take” (“to get to the center of your lollipop”) that’s simultaneously sexy and comical entendre.

When it comes to hitting it hard, Taylor does just that on the rocking “Zydeco Line” that has all the trappings of a good crowd pleaser with all the cities and towns mentioned along the Gulf Coast. “Funky Beats & Zydeco Shoes” is even more infectious with its bilingual catch phrase “put your shoes on, girl; put your boots; girl.” Taylor’s most satisfying release yet.