Benny Trokan
Do You Still Think of Me?
(Wick Records)
Having long paid his dues playing bass for Spoon, Lee Fields’ Expressions, the Reigning Sound, Charles Bradley’s Extraordinaires, and the Jay Vons, multi-instrumentalist (and Beacon resident) Benny Trokan finally steps out on his own with a rock-solid debut album for Daptone Records’ Wick subsidiary. Possessed of a raspy, haunted voice that’s occasionally reminiscent of a cross between the Young Rascals’ Felix Cavaliere and Colin Blunstone of the Zombies, Trokan delivers 12 moody-yet-hooky songs here that harken back to the glory days of late-’60s AM radio without ever sounding slavishly retro. Trokan’s chiming electric 12-string leads the way on most of the album’s highlights, including “Long Shadows,” “Turn Back You Fool,” and “Nowhere to Be Found,” all of which sound like the sort-of-cool-but-unheralded B-side you might find on the flip of an old Blues Magoos or Left Banke 45.
The overall sound and vibe remains fairly consistent throughout, but the album’s arrangements are sparse enough that just a touch of musical color here and there—be it the whirring organ on “Save a Place for Me,” the sassy castanets on “It’s Time,” or the title cut’s dispassionate female backing chorus—is often all that’s needed to keep things fresh and interesting from track to track. Though he clearly reserves the right to rock when he feels like it, Trokan mostly keeps Do You Still Think of Me? cooking at a slow burn, which makes this collection of brooding ruminations on romance, betrayal, and love lost the perfect companion for a late-night listening session.
This article appears in May 2025.
