NRBQ sind die Mutter aller Eklektizismus-Bands. Schon auf ihrem 1969er Debüt-Album coverten sie Sun Ra, spielten Eddie Cochran-Rock & Roll und komponierten die tollsten Popsongs, was Yo La Tengo, Bonnie Raitt, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello oder den Chefnörgler Keith Richards zu ihren größten Fans gemacht hat. Sie sind die ewige Lieblingsband vom Drehbuchautor Marc Scully, was sie zur wohl unbekanntesten Band macht, die jemals bei den Simpsons einen Auftritt hatte. Was aber auch dazu führte, das Sponge Bob Schwammkopf immer wieder ihre Lieder sang. Aus der Original-Quartett ist leider nur noch Keyboarder und Sänger Terry Adams übrig, aber die aktuelle Besetzung, die seit nunmehr 8 Jahren zusammen spielt lässt für eingefleischte NRBQ Fans keinen Wunsch offen.

Das neue Album »Brass Tacks« zeigt NRBQ in ihrer ganzen prächtigen Vielfalt. Das Berliner Label Staatsakt, das auch zum Kreis der großen NRBQ-Fans gehört, ist sehr glücklich, sich in Deutschland um die Vermarktung und Promotion für »Brass Tacks« zu kümmern.

... nichts klingt hier wie eine Retronummer aus der Jukebox der Goldenen Jahre. Nichts wie eine Neuerfindung. Alles wie NRBQ, kompetent und cool.

(musikexpress, Dezember 2014)

On Brass Tacks, NRBQ's third album since Terry Adams re-formed the group in 2011, the group sounds more like the old NRBQ than ever, and given how great that band was, that's a fine thing. Now as always, Adams is a tremendously gifted keyboard man, songwriter, and vocalist, and he's fired up his bandmates with the sound and feel that was the band's trademark, and while one would rightly expect the songs Adams wrote to recall classic Q, the tunes contributed by guitarist Scott Ligon and bassist Casey McDonough fit the band's traditional template so well that it seems spooky at times, as if they've been channeling the spirits of Al Anderson and Joey Spampinato. But just as importantly, Adams and his bandmates -- Ligon, McDonough, and drummer Conrad Choucroun -- have achieved the sort of musical interplay, comfortable but deeply intuitive, that has always been NRBQ's greatest gift, and that comes through loud and clear on these performances, which are too accomplished to suggest these guys are just aping the old lineup's style. NRBQ's mix of rock & roll, jazz, and R&B is as singular and as satisfying as ever, and this wouldn't sound out of place next to much of the classic lineup's recordings, no small accomplishment. As usual, Adams has brought in a handful of sneakily witty tunes, including the ode to credit card debt "Greetings from Delaware," the Sun Ra homage "Places Far Away," and the rollicking "I'm Not Here," while Ligon's sweetly easygoing "I'll Be Alright" is a gem and Jim Hoke of the Whole Wheat Horns contributes "I'd Like to Know," a beautifully downbeat bit of lovelorn pop. One might expect this edition to NRBQ to develop more of a unique personality by now, but there's no arguing that they're doing what they do very well indeed, and Brass Tacks suggests this lineup has a lot of life in it yet.

(by Mark Deming, All Music Guide)