I can't say how many houses hold some kind of name in history for rock and roll music, but as far as I know the biggest and most raucous was Big Pink. Now the Decker house paints a new vision for rock music made in a house. Decker House is dark and dreary, it is ominous and looming. Ghosts hang all over it and spirits are restless beneath chords and guitar strumming. The Rosewood Thieves manipulate the frozen pipes and the rusty drip from broken faucets down to the broken porcelain sink.



The Thieves, fronted by John Lennon inspired Erick Jordan, initially entered the house in 2004 and then after a harsh New York winter the band fled the unprepared house but returned two months later to stabilize the house as their new home. If all the ghost stories and nomadic traveling doesn't get you revved up then perhaps including Bob Dorough, composer of the infamous Schoolhouse Rock song 'Conjunction Junction', will get you going. All that said though, the EP is unsubstantial in that it gives us only a brief look though the crack in the door instead of letting us in right away.



The first song "Los Angeles" is a cold and sorrowful song featuring a desolate piano opening and windy sweeps sounding like stray cars which evolve into a graceful swinging ensemble of wild but weary rock and roll. Being introduced to Erick Jordan through this song, it came as a surprise to discover his simple elegance and his odes to the voices of the past. The lyrics are quite substantial and full and his voice never falters against the oncoming instruments which add to the beautifully layered density of the song. With seven other musicians attending the sessions, the sound really wraps you into a whirlwind of rhythm and instrumental goodness.



All songs give the same sort of feeling of being on the road, or leaving the road behind. Songs like "Lonesome Road" and "Back Home to Harlem" are fine examples of Jordan's parallels to love and the road. On "Lonesome Road" Jordan is set against a finger picking guitar which blows up into a full fledged jug-band giddy up. His feelings are heart-felt and the contrasts of placing sad lyrics such as "She did not come back" to an After The Gold Rush session sound make the song fairly powerful. "Back Home to Harlem" is a much more bitter love song where Jordan wants his love to "pack your bags little girl and/ Head back home to Harlem". The tune is a stomping-on-your-grave jam session where each musician is allowed to pound hard and loose while still remaining a tight unit.



With the resurgence of such roots rock acts such as Sam Roberts, Jack Johnson, and now The Rosewood Thieves, I believe the future of rock and roll is in good hands. The Rosewood Thieves are a very capable and tight band full of professionalism and modesty. With time they will prove to concoct some great music.