B-Side Guys

Casa Del Sol’s debut album “Strange Angels” arrives today carrying both the polish of veteran session musicians and the earnest ambition of a passion project. Mad Johnny Modell, who traded NFL boardrooms for guitar strings, leads this San Francisco quartet through nine tracks that aim to recreate the ritual of album-oriented listening in an age of scattered attention.

The band’s considerable technical prowess shows immediately on opener “Sing My Song,” where Wally Ingram’s drumming (known from work with Sheryl Crow and Jackson Browne) provides sophisticated foundation for Modell’s soul-searching lyrics. The interplay between Mighty Dave Pellicciaro’s keys and Mike DiPirro’s bass creates space for Modell’s guitar work, though occasionally this instrumental sophistication overshadows the song’s emotional core. When Modell asks “Am I the one I know / Or am I just another bastard?” the arrangement’s polish almost works against the raw questioning.

“Love In a Time of War” captures the album’s strengths and limitations. Written about the birth of Modell’s first son, its exploration of finding beauty amid chaos benefits from the band’s dynamic range. The gospel organ swells and intricate rhythm section work demonstrate why these players are first-call session musicians. However, Modell’s “ten million shades of grey” lyrics sometimes drift toward well-worn territory, even as the arrangement maintains interest. The song’s central question – “When something’s wrong / How come we still got right?” – resonates more deeply than its setup.

“Realize” and “Cold Water” showcase the quartet’s improvisational abilities without losing song structure. These tracks particularly highlight DiPirro’s melodic bass work, drawing on his experience with Bill Kreutzmann’s projects. Some extended instrumental passages could benefit from tighter editing, but the telepathic interplay between musicians – especially Modell and his thirty-year collaborator Ingram – creates moments of genuine excitement.

“Leaves and Trees” marks the album’s emotional center, examining loss with genuine vulnerability. Here, Modell’s more straightforward approach serves the material well: “One day someone’s gonna’ miss me too / Just like I long for your call” cuts deeper than some of the album’s more poetic attempts. The arrangement supports rather than overwhelms these moments of direct expression, with Pellicciaro’s keyboard work adding emotional depth without melodrama.

“Adorable Corruptor,” written for Modell’s wife Beverly, injects welcome playfulness into the proceedings. Its spooky spoken intro and auto-tuned wolf cries risk novelty but land as charming thanks to the band’s commitment to the bit. The bluesy underpinning keeps it grounded when the production threatens to float away, with DiPirro’s bass work particularly anchoring the track’s more experimental moments.

“These Roads” captures Irish landscapes through beat-poet romanticism, with Pellicciaro’s keyboard work particularly evocative. Lines like “The road’s a piercing beam of light / The wave that brings you to me” benefit from the rhythm section’s remarkable restraint, though some listeners might wish for more dynamic contrast in the song’s latter half. The track demonstrates how the band’s diverse influences – from psychedelia to world music – can cohere when serving the song rather than showcasing technique.

“Mystery Night” arrives like a summation of the band’s strengths. Three decades of friendship between Modell and Ingram translate into musical telepathy, while Pellicciaro and DiPirro prove themselves equal partners in this sonic conversation. The production throughout maintains professional sheen while attempting to capture the band’s live energy – a balance that mostly succeeds but occasionally feels too calculated.

The closing title track strips everything back to voice and acoustic guitar, offering an intimate coda that highlights both Modell’s songwriting strengths and limitations. Its lullaby-like quality and celestial imagery (“Strange angels fill / The deep blue sky in flight”) provide a fitting end to an album that consistently reaches for transformation through music, even when it doesn’t quite grasp it.

Throughout “Strange Angels,” Casa Del Sol demonstrates why these players have such impressive resumes. The musicianship never wavers, the production serves the material, and the band’s genuine belief in music’s transformative power comes through. If sometimes the lyrics lean toward familiar imagery or the arrangements feel too comfortable, the overall effect still captures something genuine about searching for light in dark times.

This debut suggests Casa Del Sol knows exactly what kind of band it wants to be – one that honors the album-oriented rock tradition while incorporating elements of soul, psychedelia, and world music. Their success at achieving that vision will likely depend on listeners’ appetite for meticulously crafted throwback rock. What “Strange Angels” occasionally lacks in innovation, it makes up for in conviction and craftsmanship. The album stands as proof that sometimes the long road – in this case, Modell’s journey from NFL heir to musician – leads exactly where it should.