Al Julson and Larry Past have been playing together since the ’80s when they played in notable Minneapolis projects like Touch & Go and Tequila Mockingbird.

Sitting in Phoenix Park after Al Julson and Larry Past just finished a set, I reluctantly admit to the duo that I have no idea how to describe them. “It’s hard to pinpoint your sound. I can hear a twinge of 90s pop rock in there, some 70s singer-songwriter stuff, and then you throw in your crazy covers. So what is it?” All this time, Al and Larry are smiling and nodding, and by the time I finish, I know their answer. “It’s all of it.”

If I have to pigeonhole these guys, I’ll say acoustic folk rock with vocal harmonies and ukulele. But, in reality, listening to their new debut album is to hear a three-decade story and resulting evolution of two veteran musicians.

Their story begins in Minneapolis in the 80s, where they played with notable projects like Touch & Go and Tequila Mockingbird (whose 1991 alt-rock album got regular play on Cities 97 with the single Sad About Gloria). It was also at this time that they wrote Calling, the smooth and catchy track that opens their album. And while the second track, Don’t Play With Kate, wasn’t written back then, you can definitely hear some of their 90s pop roots in it (and a Hey There Delilah feel).

The next tracks, Only You and Talk to Me, are Larry-penned tunes that naturally fit together by telling stories of leaving home. It’s a theme suiting the duo, as they went their separate ways after Mockingbird, with Larry continuing to play in Texas and South Dakota, and Al touring the country with acts like Gene Pitney and Ben E. King. Then around 2001, Al moved to Boyceville and – wouldn’t you know it – a few years later Larry wound up in Eau Claire.

In 2008, their new band officially took form, and they played local shows to test original material and mix in covers. “We really love music, and the covers give people a reference to know where we come from,” Al said, referring to the expanding list that includes Hank Williams and Ricky Nelson, Beatles and Stones, Paula Cole and Tracy Chapman, Springsteen and Costello, Lou Reed and Suzanne Vega. 

So it’s only suitable that the album have covers. Electric guitar sneaks in for Under the Milky Way (alt-rockers The Church), then ukulele takes center stage for the sing-along Mrs. Brown (Herman’s Hermits) and upbeat Bob Dylan-penned Wagon Wheel.

The ukulele is a huge influence of their sound, and being active with the new local club, Al & Larry invited the members to their CD release as an “orchestra pit of ukes” to play along.

The tracks I Don’t Care and Sweet Dreams enter into funky groove territory with digital-sounding percussion and cool guitar solos/fills, which eventually overtake the acoustic sound almost completely on the free-for-all Perfectly Clear.

The extra instrumentation leads to a much richer recording and comes from locals Mike Shlenker (guitar), Mike Vhalhakis (keys), and John Smith (percussion). Vhalhakis also recorded and mixed the album with his SoundWorks Studio.

While the title track starts the album, it also ends it. While the opening version is mellow and acoustic, the closer is busy and electric. This choice perfectly embodies how the album plays out. Their harmony-and-ukulele sound is the common thread throughout, but the album builds in an almost unnoticeable way as more instruments/fills/hooks/solos join in. By the end, you’re hearing the same song that you started with, except not. It’s like a wink to the listener – a sound that evolves before your ears. “That’s kind of the story of the CD anyway,” Larry said.

For music vets, it’s either a grind to earn a living or a pure love of music that keeps them coming back. With Al & Larry, there’s no doubt it’s the latter. They’re all smiles when it comes to music, and there’s not a scene they’d be happier to be a part of than Eau Claire’s. 

Recently they played Fine Line Café, the first time they’d done so in 20+ years. And it’s likely that they played Calling and Sad About Gloria at both. While former one-hit wonders can say the same, they play casinos and hate every minute of it. But Al and Larry? They’re loving it.