Song of the Day: “Get It Back” by Reckoners
Session standouts prove they can feel as well as they play
If you’ve spent any time in the Boston music scene over the last decade, you’ve likely seen the members of Reckoners (formerly the delightfully aggressive A Band of Killers) lurking in the liner notes or backing up legends. But with their self-titled debut, Reckoners (released in late 2024), this local supergroup finally stopped playing second fiddle to everyone else’s dreams. The songs on this record represent a polished, soulful graduation for a band that has spent years evolving from a loose collective of session “killers” into a tight-knit unit with a sound that’s more Muscle Shoals than Massachusetts.
Fronting the group is Tim Gearan, a songwriter with a “honey-smoked” voice that has been a staple of the Cambridge scene for years. Before Reckoners, Gearan was widely known for his legendary residencies at spots like Atwood’s Tavern. His songwriting partnership with guitarist Johnny Trama is the engine that moved this project from a live jam session to a permanent band. Bassist Marc Hickox who has toured with blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, Darby Wolf (Keys) providing the atmospheric swells that bridge the gap between rock and soul, and powerhouse Tom Arey , who has toured with with Peter Wolf (of J. Geils Band fame) and alt-blues staple G. Love on drums round out the quintet.
The transition to vinyl and subsequent re-release in Dec 2025 feels less like a marketing gimmick and more like a return to their natural habitat. There is a warmth to the vinyl specific mix & mastering that captures the grit in Tim Gearan’s vocals and the “stop what you’re doing” precision of Johnny Trama’s guitar work. It’s the kind of record that demands you actually sit down and listen, rather than letting it dissolve into the background of a Sunday brunch. If their earlier incarnation as a collective was focused on showing off their individual chops, this album is about the realization that the sum of their parts is actually quite a bit more formidable than the parts themselves.
While the opener “Looking for a Reason” is the flashy storefront display that gets you in the door with the formidable vocal gravity of Susan Tedeschi, “Get It Back” is the kind of track that convinces you to stay. It is a song that breathes… a rare feat for a band comprised of session veterans who could easily overplay if they felt like it. This is Gearan’s finest hour on the microphone. He avoids the “soul-singer-by-numbers” tropes, opting for a delivery that feels weary, wise, and lived-in. Johnny Trama’s work here is his most disciplined. Instead of a standard solo-by-the-numbers, his playing acts as a second voice, answering Gearan’s phrases with a tone that is thick, saturated, and dripping with intentionality. This song is the sound of a band that has stopped trying to prove they can play and started proving they can feel.
The Song
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/song/get-it-back-vinyl-edition/1854242014
There is no video featuring today’s SOTD, but here is a taste of the band live in the studio:
The Album
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/reckoners-vinyl-edition/1854242002