If you’re thinking about calling someone old, make sure they won’t make a song about, call you out for it, and give you a piece of their mind wrapped in tasty horns, hot bass, and rapid-fire bursts of rapped, old people wisdom.
JUNK is the brainchild of bassist and music theory boffin Aaron Seener (Dubl A) from Long Island, California, and Dale Pearson (Dirty D) from San Diego. Their sound can be identified with acidic, jazzy funk. They Call Me Old Man is their take on an ageist comment Dirty D has received. His response is a hard-hitting display of both his and Seener’s musical prowess. The song is populated by mostly freeform saxophone lines, layered on top of one another, never overlapping or over-populating the mix, an ode to Dirty D’s long experience. Next to the horn richness, we have terrific bass playing and tones from Aaron Seener, whose lines are varied and expressive, getting milder or rockier progressively as the lyrics become more and less threatening. The production is neat and the plethora of instrumental lines are well placed in the tight mix, never making the sound claustrophobic, which is a very easy trap to fall into for a song as crowded as this one.
I truly hope whoever commented on Dirty D got his share handed to him; your comments must have been pretty rude to garner a whole song for a response, but luckily it’s a good song, one that can be enjoyed regardless of age. They Call Me Old Man is a commendable Jazz Funk offering from two musical veterans that should not go under your radar.