The Sextones
It was the fans, not the band, who named the Sextones. Inspiration came not from any particularly titillating performance, but rather the last name of Mark Sexton, who’d been touring since high school as the Mark Sexton Band. The music helped too, with a sexy funk-soul vibe that sends tingles all through the body, particularly on the new album, Moonlight Vision
The Sextones
The album, released in April 2017, is a yummy gumbo of lighthearted love songs wrapped in funky soul instrumentation and rousing rhythms. Mark Sexton's smoky voice, sliding easily between alto and falsetto, is the perfect vehicle for his engaging songs, and the band's advanced musical skills generate an exuberant playfulness; the driving beats coupled with the horn and guitar jabs lay the perfect floor for both the lyrics and creative guitar solos
If the songs have an overarching theme, it might be to stop taking life so seriously and start embracing unconditional joy. The title track, for example, is a swirling hard rock sundae rich with funk brass and exuberant guitar soloing, as well as vivid lyrics responding to a lover's demand for freedom. "Blame it on My Youth" employs that great funk trick of couching 6/4 timing within a steady 2/4 rock beat, and it extends a party-worthy invitation to just rock out and ignore the consequences.
The album, released in April 2017, is a yummy gumbo of lighthearted love songs wrapped in funky soul instrumentation and rousing rhythms.
The tracks were recorded in 2015, when the band was still working under the name the Mark Sexton Band, and the meticulous post-production has taken an entire year. It also comes with some tongue-in-butt-cheek marketing strategy with the creation of a Sextones hotline (1-336-SEX-TONE) that lets fans listen to tracks from the new album under the guise of an eighties-style late night sex hotline.
This is the third release by duo Mark Sexton and Alex Korostinksy, who first met at a summer camp near Reno, Nevada and bonded over their shared love of music. Korostinksy, son of jazz drummer Louis Korostinsky, brought not only his father’s DNA but also training from an early age. Picking up on Sexton’s gift for singing and songwriting, he offered to record Sexton’s songs with himself on drums, bass, extra guitar, and trombone. From there, the friendship led to the first album, Multiformity, in 2008, followed two years later by Listen Out, and the EP Young & Naïve in 2013, as well as stage appearances with Macy Grey, Ziggy Marley, and Alan Evans of Soulive.
What's behind that whirlwind of creativity? According to Korostinksy, it's mostly curiosity.
"I'm always trying to learn about a lot of stuff. I like other cultures, so I try to learn as much as I can about them. It's like that pearl of wisdom: if you want to live a full life you have to act like a child for most of it, seeing faces in walls, being curious, being courageous, having an open mind."
