DALLAS PERKINS – Unbecoming

Dallas Perkins is a California, USA-based guitarist and singer who has been around the music scene for a while, playing for and recording with a fair number of bands throughout his career. Roxx Gang is probably Perkins’ best-known band, although there were other minor ones along the way. In 2000, Perkins released a well-regarded solo album entitled Emergent Behavior.

Perkins is back now with a new solo effort, Unbecoming, which he also co-produced. Consisting of four songs – all written and arranged by Perkins – and running for 17 minutes, Unbecoming obviously isn’t a full-length disc, but new music is new music just the same. Rounding out the lineup on the album are Aaron Samson and David Moreno, who are credited with bass and drum duties, respectively.

The four tracks on Unbecoming are: “Taken Alive,” “Get It Right,” “Kurukshetra,” and “Indivisible.”

Perkins plays a heavy, Bluesy style of Hard Rock with lots of fluid – but not florid – guitar parts on Unbecoming; while he can certainly play a guitar with a great deal of skill and soul, he doesn’t overdo it with lots of needless shredding and noodling. Perkins’ playing on the disc is interesting and involving, but never over-the-top or flashy just for the sake of showing off. The riffs are good and the solos are tastefully placed and well-done on each of the four songs, so no complaints there.

When it comes to singing, Perkins doesn’t do a bad job here: he has a gritty voice, and he delivers the lyrics with enthusiasm and energy. Perkins will never be mistaken for a great vocalist, but as a singer he’s solid enough, with a voice that nicely fits the style and attitude of the music on hand.

Unbecoming is a solid – albeit short – collection of Hard Rock songs from Dallas Perkins, and it probably won’t disappoint the guitar fans either.