Rufous

Two waltz tracks in a row could be a liability, but ‘Rufous’ earns its placement by shifting the temperature rather than the method. Where ‘Tumbleweed’ was loose and rolling, ‘Rufous’ works the upper register with the kind of confident, unhurried bends you hear on classic Clapton or early Allman Brothers live cuts, and the minor-key tonality gives it a different emotional weight. The blistering run that arrives early in the track is its centerpiece, a moment of genuine technical fire that earns every second of the steady groove surrounding it. As the third track, it functions as confirmation: PCBender is not going to drift from the waltz form just yet, but he is finding real variety within it. ‘Rufous’ does its job and does it well.