Lone Justice
were a great band who unfortunately were also a great cautionary tale about how musicians can get chewed up and spit out by the music industry.
offered a fresh and vital take on California country fused with rock & roll, and in the early '80s they became one of the biggest draws on the L.A. club circuit. Then they landed a major-label deal and acquired a producer and manager who didn't get what they were doing, and saw vocalist
Maria McKee
as a solo star in waiting rather than a member of a great team along with guitarist
Ryan Hedgecock
, bassist
Marvin Etzioni
, and drummer
Don Heffington
. 1985's
has many great moments, but the overcooked production and parade of guest stars worked against the band's sound and spirit, and by the time 1986's
Shelter
was released, only
McKee
and
Hedgecock
were left, and a year later, they were done. One of the sad consequences was that folks who didn't get to see one of their fabled L.A. club shows never got to hear the group in their purest and most potent form. Thankfully,
Omnivore Records
issued two discs of the band's pre-
Geffen
demos (2014's
This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes, 1983
and 2019's
The Western Tapes, 1983
) and a soundboard tape of a live gig (2019's
Live at the Palomino 1983
) that documented how the band sounded when they were making music on their own terms. 2024's
Viva Lone Justice
was also drawn from demos
recorded with her old
partners
,
Etzioni
, and
Heffington
while she was in pre-production on her 1993 solo set
You Gotta Sin to Get Saved
, with discreet overdubs added in the 2020s to fill out some of the tracks. Most of the time, though, this is just the sound of four friends playing songs they love, with a natural sense of give-and-take between the musicians and a feel that's casual but never lazy. The best stuff on
captures the sound of a band, not a handful of hotshot musicians high on flash, and the energy of "Rattlesnake Mama," "Skull and Crossbones," and "Alabama Baby" is palpable and infectious. These sessions also catch
singing with unforced excellence, and "You Possess Me" and "I Will Always Love You" are hauntingly beautiful testimonials to her gorgeous voice and faultless instincts. If anyone wonders why they're covering
the Undertones
' "Teenage Kicks" or the
MC5
's "Sister Anne," well, they're great songs and these folks are clearly having a blast playing them, so why shouldn't they?
is the sound of
being themselves, with no filters forced upon them, and the delight they take in following their muse is a wonderful thing to hear. This is the album
should have been allowed to make in 1983, and in 2024 it remains music full of heart, soul, and passion. It was worth the wait. ~ Mark Deming