Artist:     Good Paper of Rev. Rob Mortimer

Album:     Lock It Down Tight

Label:     RBM Music

Release Date:     11.16.2018

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The Good Paper of Rev. Rob Mortimer’s Lock It Down Tight is a horn-driven soul joy ride that stands alone as a fantastic album. But anyone familiar with the band’s previous work is going to be fascinated by the band’s current musical direction.

Rob Mortimer, Good Paper’s guitarist and frontman, is a reverend and working undertaker from Greenville, Mississippi. Their first album, Peep, was grunge-y. Their 2010 follow-up, Our Stupid Selves, had more of a blues rock orientation. And now, on Lock It Down, Mortimer has moved the band, successfully, into fairly pure soul. The constant across their music is Mortimer and his rich voice, which bears a resemblance to Warren Haynes, with Mortimer’s voice having a bit more of that aforementioned grunge influence.

The album’s lead track, “Who’s Gonna Take This Bad Ass Down,” is the album’s best. A funky, soulful,  sexy boast of a track, the horns work to grab the spotlight from Mortimer, but he’s having none of it. The song is catchy but not cloying or annoying.

“High Ground” is an acoustic power ballad, the horns playing much more of a supporting role to Mortimer’s voice, guitar, and some lovely slide guitar. It’s almost a country song but the horns make it into something more complex and interesting.

Some of the faster tracks, with the funky guitar scratches and big horn stabs, sound a bit disco-y, but even those songs are elevated by Mortimer’s voice, which just oozes emotion. Lock It Down Tight doesn’t fit neatly into many musical holes which is what makes the album so enjoyable. Mortimer’s latest evolution is a good one. Let’s hope he gives his band’s current incarnation a few more albums before moving on to the next plane of existence.

—Steven Ovadia