Review: The Immediate Family Creates a Family Affair That Really Rocks

The Immediate Family/The Immediate Family/Quarto Valley Records
3.5 Stars Out of Five 

The Immediate Family is a supergroup in the truest sense. Each of the players— guitarists Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel and Steve Postell, bassist Leland Sklara— have decades of experience backing the biggest artists of the modern era, among them, such luminaries as Jackson Browne, Carol King, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Rondstadt, Don Henley, James Taylor, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, Phil Collins, and hundreds of other legends who literally set the standard for modern music.

That said, this band has its own history as well. Kortchmar, Kunkel, and Sklar first played together in an instrumental ensemble called The Section some 30 years ago. Watchel was asked to join, but declined, citing his preference for straight-up songs. However, when Kortchmar was offered an opportunity to record a solo album for a Japanese label, he enlisted his colleagues, Postell included, thanks to the experience and expertise he possesses on his own. 

The ultimate result of this amalgam is the band’s self-titled debut album, a rapid follow-up to Can’t Stop Progress, an EP released earlier this year. Comprised mostly of original songs and a handful of covers of songs written with and recorded by others—the latter includes striking live versions of the Danny Kortchmar/Jackson Browne co-composition “Somebody’s Baby” and Warren Zevon’s “Johnny Strikes Up the Band” as a pair of bonus tracks—it’s a hard-hitting, hard-rocking effort that effectively showcases the musicians’ skills and synergy. The title track, “Slippin’ and Slidin’” and the song that follows, “Everything That’s Broken,” effectively set the tone with solidly assertive efforts that define the band’s decisive intents. 

The tracks that follow reaffirm that stalwart approach. A remake of Warren Zevon’s “Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead,” the uncompromising “Divorce,” ”Turn It Up To Ten” and “House Will Fall,” and the mid-tempo twosome, “I’m Not Made That Way” and “A Thing of the Past,” all attest to their commitment to the cause. Theirs is a mighty sound and one that echoes with its own self-contained drive and determination.

The members of The Immediate Family set their own standards years ago, but with this current affiliation, they reestablish a reputation that’s currently at its crest. Happily, this family affair and an auspicious effort at that.

Photo by Jay Gilbert