Moore’s writing (and the band’s playing) is fueled by real life, filtered through bluesmen souls and rock ‘n’ roll hearts. It’s often not a pretty picture – but neither is life, sometimes. You know Moore’s either been there or knows who was there when he’s writing about a party taking a bad turn when someone hauls out a pistol (“Mississippi Drinkin’”) or a relationship that’s too hard to stay in and too hard to do without (“You Don’t Know”).
John The Conqueror’s songs are always firmly founded in the groove – and Gardner and Lynn are masters of such. Gardner never overplays, but he is as unshakeable as he is tasteful. (Listen, for example, to his cymbal work on “Road To Bayport” – when he lets loose it’s the perfect punctuation to what’s going down with Moore in the moment.) Dig Ryan Lynn’s bass holding down the fort during the opening verse of “What Am I Gonna Do” – all cool and funky and right on. Rather than making the mistake that trio members sometimes do – trying to make up for the three-piece lineup by overplaying – Gardner and Lynn know how to work the holes in the sound and find dynamics in absence and return.