Crash Taylor – ‘Retired Outlaw’ [Album Review]

New York folk-rock artist Crash Taylor recently released his brand-new album, Retired Outlaw, via Fanatic Records.

It all began when Crash was five years old, playing the banjo. His family was really into music, with family life, social occasions, and holidays revolving around the subject. At eight, Crash started public performances in the family’s band, Generation Gap. By the time he was ten, Crash was writing songs, followed by learning electric guitar and performing in a rock band as a teenager.

He recorded his first song, “Crash Taylor,” with no plans to release it. Since then, he’s recorded hundreds of songs with stellar musicians in great studios but was too restive to market them. When COVID put everything on hold, he wrote a book, Pot.Dot.Com, and elected to release an album – Retired Outlaw.

Encompassing 10-tracks, Retired Outlaw begins with “Fretboard,” a bluesy Americana track riding a mid-tempo rhythm flavored by a subterranean bassline as Crash’s voice imbues the lyrics with mannered tones.

Highlights on the album include the tropical-laced SoCal soft rock “Idlewild,” featuring a syncopated rhythm and gleaming guitars.

Talking about “Idlewild,” Crash says, “High on a mountain in Southern California I found my happy place. It is not a geolocation I need to revisit as now it is always with me. The divine moment has long outlived the original experience.”

“Sitting here in Idlewild, gonna settle down and take a while / And find out, what really moves me / I don’t care if I ever come down / My whole road is a cloud / It’s quiet enough that all the voices in me / Have a chance to say what they want to be / I know there’s other people somewhere.”

A personal favorite, “Nothing To Lose,” for some reason, conjures up suggestions of Jimmy Buffet because of its indulgent loose feel, as if the musicians got together and just played without a definite direction. As the song progresses, it takes on hints of psychedelic country.

The country savors of “Where’s My Baby” roll out on tasty textures and an upbeat rhythm. On this track, Crash’s vocals infuse the lyrics with delicious yearning.

Crash Taylor

“I need my baby’s love, where can she be / I need my baby’s love, come and comfort me / And I need her love, need her love right now / I need her love, need her love right now.”

The intro to “Mona Lisa” travels on drifting guitars and then flows into a gently gliding chorus riding a measured rhythm as Crash gives the lyrics dreamy, wistful savors.

Crash explains “Mona Lisa,” stating:

“Symbols are imbued with intellectual constructs and meaning relative to a particular zeitgeist. The meaning is often weakened with the passing of time, and they essentially become art on the wall. Many symbols are used as decoration because people enjoy the visual or because they inspire a feeling, and yet there is no connection left to the original meaning.”

There’s an aura of sonic elegance to Crash Taylor’s compositions, a quality not usually associated with folk-rock. Subtle yet alluring, the songs on Retired Outlaw evoke easy-going emotional effects.

Retired Outlaw Track Listing:

1. Fretboard
2. Idlewild
3. Play For Me
4. Nothing To Lose
5. Birthday Suit
6. How Love Grows
7. Where’s My Baby
8. Mona Lisa
9. Let Him In
10. Nuptial Song

Run Time: 35:39
Release Date: March 25, 2022
Record Label: Fanatic Records