Quickies - Albert Cummings, Gary Cain, and The Paddy Boy Zimmerman Band

Rolling up some albums from various quarters today, with a couple that have already escaped into the wild, and one that’s coming very shortly.
 
Albert Cummings – Strong
 
Albert Cummings is an exponent of straight up and down electric blues, and a good one at that.  He’s got a rich and resonant voice, and enough classic blues guitar chops to start an academy.  Here he’s put those components together in fine fashion, with a string of satisfying songs on his recently released album Strong.

Albert Cummings enjoys some noises off

The opener ‘Emmylou’ gets the ball rolling in winning style.  The tale of a nudging, winking, heartbreaker of a diner waitress, it kicks off with crunching chords, then rattles along merrily in a similar vein to John Hiatt’s ‘Tennessee Plates’.  But it also folds in a cunning key change to bring an extra dimension to the first of Cummings’ many sharp solos.
There’s more fun to be had on ‘Fallen For You’, which underlines the fact that the sound on Strong is great, packed with oomph right down to Cummings’ fuzzy guitar tone. It’s got a good-time, upbeat vibe, with solid, pumping bass and chiming piano filling in around the edges, and if Cummings’ solo isn’t something of sparkling originality it’s still totally convincing, with plenty of vim.
‘Bad Reputation’ carries heft too, but with some dynamic tension.  A taut bump’n’grind, it comes with sock it to ‘em, cymbal splattered guitar chords and sideswipes of organ, to which Cummings adds a hollering vocal and a stinging, jabbing, scrabbling solo. It is, without  doubt, good stuff.
The good stuff extends in different directions too.  There’s the rolling, atmospheric acoustic guitar picking and strumming of ‘Just About Enough’, which brings to mind Whitesnake’s ‘Ain’t Gonna Cry No More’ and swells post-chorus, with piercing guitar highlighting the sentiment of teeth-gritted resilience.  There is, too, the toe-tapping, swinging, “Gonna get what I want” shuffle of ‘Get Busy’, to which Cummings brings sharp guitar lick interjections before cutting loose on a closing solo.
The “please write my mama, tell her the shape I’m in” slow blues ‘Goin’ Down Slow’ is classy stuff, Cummings’ soulful vocal displaying good feel, with cool bluesy piano underlinging the mood.  Maybe Cummings’ guitar solo is a little overwrought – maybe.  But for my money it stills feels like a stronger outing than the more modern, sultry slowie ‘Let It Burn’.
There are other good moments too, including the entertaining, lick-strewn shuffle of ‘Lookin’ Up’,

Gary Cain is puzzled by some noises off

Pic by Candice Cain

the Bad Company-like moodiness of ‘Lately’, and the guitar-grinding, stomping cover of the Beatles’ ‘Why Don’t We Do It In The Road’.
All in all, in fact, Strong has enough consistency and originality to live up to its title.
 
 
Gary Cain – Outside The Lines
 
Ironically, It’s clear from ‘Ain’t Got The Blues’, the opening salvo on this album by Canadian-born, Austin-based guitarist and singer Gary Cain, that the guy has plenty blues sensibility.  Doubly ironic really, since the lyric is about Cain’s perception of frowning rigidity on the part of some gatekeepers of the blues world.  All the same, the tune is bluesy-funky, with a tripping, skipping rhythm and a stuttering riff to go with its decent hook. Cain’s trilling solo slows then speeds up, and then he doubles down on a fiery outro for good measure.
In case you didn’t get the message, on the later ‘Blues Enough For You’ he reiterates his resistance to the “blues police” and their strictures, all while he lays down a wodge of bubbling funkiness that develops into a scurrying solo that’s certainly impressive, if a bit jazzy for my taste in places.
Cain is right to insist that he’s not defined by his blues roots though.  ‘Attitude’ is a chunk of grooving melodic rock, all chunky, bristling, stop-start riffing over a driving rhythm and bustling bass.  Cain’s voice isn’t a standout, but it’s got enough punch and musicality to hit the target, and his sizzling solo here shows that he’s in a higher league on the guitar front. In fact if hummingbird-quick picking is what floats your boat, then Gary Cain should definitely be on your radar, though for me he sometimes – sometimes, mind you – demonstrates skill more than heart.  All the same, when he sings that “You don’t like my attitude,” my instinctive response is “But I do Gary, I do.”
That’s a view confirmed by the shimmering, scintillating instrumental ‘Far From Home’, with its semi-psychedelic passages, light and shade, and melodic/anthemic segment, while the drum’n’bass components do an impressive rhythmic turn too. In this context it’s worth noting that Cain is responsible for all of the instruments in evidence here, plus MIDI programming – and whether the drums and bass are analogue or digital in nature, he’s done a pretty snazzy job with them across the piece.
There’s a Hendrix-via-Philip Sayce vibe to the charging riff on ‘Lie To Me’, with gutsy stop-time chords over rumbling drums, demonstrating that Cain can lay on the power, and then back it up with a fizzing solo.  But the closing ‘Keep On Walking’ is even more impressive, with big chords laden with bruising bass, and a reverb-heavy vocal.  Ripped out shards and squalls of guitar set
up a mind-bending epic vibe, and though that subsides as Cain defaults to a bit of speed-freakery he gets back in the gripping, atmospheric groove soon enough to close the deal.
Gary Cain was a new name to me, but on the strength of Outside The Lines he's certainly a name to watch.
 
Outside The Lines is released on 3 May.
 
 
The Paddy Boy Zimmerman Band – The Paddy Boy Zimmermann Band

In case the name has you wondering about his origins, let’s make it clear that singer and guitarist Paddy Boy Zimmermann hails from Germany rather than Ireland, as do his bass and drums pals Rupi Schwarzburger and Jan Wienstroer.

The Paddy Boy Zimmermann Band go for the ZZ Top look

Pic by Markus Herzfeld

There are some interesting things going on across the nine tracks on offer here. But at the same time I gotta say that Zimmermann’s vocals are something of an acquired taste. His singing voice, in fact, is not that tuneful. Now, as I’ve observed before, that isn’t the end of the world if you know what you’re about and can invest your performance with some personality. In that sense Zimmermann sometimes just about gets away with it. But we’ll get back to that.
After the underwhelming opener ‘From Your Blood’, ‘Brick Wall Boogie’ is a bit of low slung rockin’ à la Magic Sam, maybe, with flickering licks in the margins and a surging guitar solo, appealing enough to stir the senses.  The following ‘Spaghetti In The Night’ is more intriguing, a slow ‘un that mashes up a slow burning blues groove with some Hendrix-infused twang’n’trill, while Zimmermann essays a semi-spoken vocal. It’s quite well done, but as with several tracks here, it outstays its welcome a bit.
‘Alive Shuffle’ serves up some down-on-the-porch acoustic musings, one of a few tracks that show Zimmermann can handle an acoustic guitar, his slide guitar break bending and warping nicely.  Meanwhile his vocal may drone, but it still has a certain appeal in a way that suggests he’s paid attention to how Dylan has groaned and creaked his way through life. So it’s no surprise when the acoustic, quasi-talking blues ‘Streets’ also comes with a Dylan-esque nasal drawl.  Whether the Lou Reed-like sprechgesang of the sparse ballad ‘Way Too Soon’ works any better is an open question.
That flat Dylan twang also shows up on ‘Platform Two’, but with some positive distraction in the form of SRV-like blocky riffing and a spiralling turnaround, while Schwarzburger pitches in with some busy bass to push things along.
‘Green Boots’ shows some spark to close proceedings though, starting off mellow then turning Jimi-like with a tightly wound ascending riff, and a fluttering solo that feels like it comes from a less blues-based source, while Zimmermann’s conversational phrasing gives his vocal some character. It is, I reckon, the best thing here.
Like I said, this debut album has its moments. But it would be better if there were more of them, and in particular if there was some stronger songwriting that enabled Zimmermann to give his voice a more expressive turn.
 
The Paddy Boy Zimmerman Band was released on 22 March.

Ian Hunter - Defiance Part 2: Fiction

There’s a promotional chat by Ian Hunter for Defiance Part 2: Fiction on YouTube, during which he says “I tell you what, I know something.  They’re all going to go, it’s not as good as the last one. ‘Cause they’ve only heard this one five minutes, and they’ve heard the last one for a year.”
I’ll tell you what – he’s right. But then Defiance Part 1 set the bar incredibly high.  It was a late career slam dunk of an album for anyone who loves proper rock’n’roll.  And if . . . Fiction doesn’t hit the same heights from start to finish, it still has more than a few peaks.
One of those peaks is the opener ‘People’, which grabs the attention with a “na-na-na” singalong and doesn’t let go.  It bounces along on a pounding beat and churning rhythm guitar as the basis

Ian Hunter - still dishing out hope and anger

for some typically acid Hunter lyrics about the influence of modern marketing, amid crashing cymbal punctuation:  “’We know what people want.’ No you don’t – you make me wanna throw up,” he protests.  The backing features Cheap Trick stalwarts Robin Zander, Tom Peterson and Rick Neilson, and the latter provides the icing on the cake with a splintery solo.
At the other end of the album, penultimate track ‘Everybody’s Crazy But Me’ also does the rocking business, Hunter teasing with an opening call of “’Ello, ‘ello, ello” as Taylor Hawkins kicks off a clever, shuffling rhythm and Waddy Wachtel adds a grinding, irresistible guitar riff.  It’s tense and pushy, and after a minute and a half leaps to another level, a deeply Ronson-like guitar line prefacing the chorus, which eventually amasses shoutalong proportions.
But there are reflective songs too, ranging from ‘The 3^rd Rail’, a sad tale of subway tragedy with musical echoes of ‘Sons And Lovers’ from way back, to which Jeff Beck adds subtle curlicues and flourishes.  ‘What Would I Do Without You’ is a simple, direct love song with a vaguely Celtic air to its swaying melody, with Lucinda Williams’ worn voice providing a suitable counterpoint to Hunter himself.  The closing ‘Hope’, meanwhile, is a gentle dream of being able to welcome a new dawn after recent years' turmoil, with rippling piano from Benmont Tench, while Lucinda Williams and Billy Bob Thornton add soothing harmonies.
‘Fiction’ itself rides a rolling piano groove,  to which Hunter adds a considered vocal, creating a hypnotic vibe which is gradually augmented by strings, at first just throbbing along but gradually becoming more elaborate and serpentine in the arrangement by Dylan sidekick David Mansfield.
‘This Ain’t Rock’N’Roll’ is a more uptempo, sprightly affair, on which Hunter pays tribute to the rockers of days gone by, and perceives a lack of fresh personalities and sounds of the same calibre.  It is, of course, a splurge of old-fashioned rock’n’roll itself.  ‘Precious’ is a jaunty, happy-go-lucky expression of affection, perhaps a bit less substantial but still with an infernally catchy chorus, while Brian May eventually weighs in with some characteristic, squelchy guitar licks en route to a slowing, fairground hall of mirrors outro.
Contrastingly, ‘Weed’ may open with sweet, Beck-like slide guitar from Stone Temple Pilots’ Deon Deleo, but it’s actually a caustic portrayal of the pernicious influence of today’s ‘Masters Of The Universe’, who can holler “Let ‘em, let ‘em, let ‘em smoke weed” in an ironically anthemic chorus, offering opium to the masses while growing their power.  ‘Kettle Of Fish’ is darker still, a brooding beast that foregrounds rumbling bass from Tom Peterson over Taylor Hawkins’ lurking, behind the beat drums, while Hunter curls his lip at “these troubled times,” observing that “This is a fine kettle of fish, I can’t drink the water.”
I tell you what - listening to it again as I write, Defiance Part 2 doesn’t fall that far short of its predecessor at all.  Recently I said that on their latest album I reckoned The Black Keys displayed a loss of edge.  Well that ain’t true of Ian Hunter.  Not likely.  He may not be one of the young dudes any more, but he’s still got rock’n’roll fire in his belly.
 
Defiance Part 2: Fiction is out now on Sun Records.

The Milk Men - Holy Cow!

“Three minute hero, I wanna be - a three minute hero.”  So sang The Selector many moons ago. The Milk Men may well agree with that sentiment.  Most of the ten tracks on Holy Cow! are of the short’n’sweet variety, making for a brisk canter of an album.  The mood of the songs on offer here tends to suit that approach too.
The opening ‘One Man Band’ is set in motion by a spinning, twirling riff over a steady beat, laying down the boogie before Jamie Smy weighs in with a rasping vocal laying out the modus vivendi of an independent geezer (rather than a musician without bandmates, that is).  The sounds feels a bit tidy, but the simple chorus is punctuated by some dentist drill guitar from Adam Norsworthy, who also knocks out a wiry solo. The following ‘Hungover’ is similarly slight

The Milk Men - sharper than a sharp thing

Pic by Rob Blackham

but catchy – truth be told, a few of the melodies across the album are less than stellar. A catalogue of attempts at sobriety being derailed by other parties, it’s bright and breezy with a bit of quiet/loud dynamics thrown into the bridge.
The Milk Men tend to describe themselves as blues-rock, but that cap doesn’t fit particularly well when you listen to snappy songs like ‘Wild Girls’ and ‘Easy Touch’, which are among the most appealing fare here.  With its simple, staccato riff, snappy drums and occasional handclaps, the former could be inspired by 70s glam rock, or by post-punk power pop.  Its sound is rounded out a skein of acoustic guitar running through it, as well as fluid bass from Lloyd Green, while Norsworthy tops it off with a classy little guitar break. The chorus has a decent hook about it too, though if "wild girls carry guns and knives" round their way then I think I'll steer clear, thanks.  ‘Easy Touch’ has a similar vibe, with a Slade-like ringing guitar sound over shuffling, Stonesy drums from Mike Roberts.  Meanwhile Smy does a good job pitching his vocal a tad higher than usual as they take a decent hook and hammer it home.
‘Bad News Blues’ is a solid chunk of high-revving boogie, given extra impetus by the ducking and weaving of Green’s bass, while the chorus is another simple but catchy affair.  And if the tune’s nothing special, Norsworthy’s rock’n’rolling guitar in the second half gives the thing another gear.  By the same token ‘Fill Her Shoes’ has an engagingly bouncing groove, the result of well assembled backing including an interesting guitar part and driving drums, plus a guitar solo which darts this way and that to good effect.
They add some fresh ingredients on other tracks though.  They have a stab at getting funky on ‘Give A Little Love’, with its wah-wah guitar line and stop-start chords.  Smy’s voice is well suited to this line, and there’s a crisp guitar break and some twirl-and-twiddle guitar towards the end to round things off.  Even better though is the dreamy slower song ‘Fool For Loving You’, which has a convincingly romantic melody and a swoonsome chorus, Smy crooning away nicely. The ticking and twinkling guitar, melodic bass, and hints of organ all add up to more than the sum of their parts, and Norsworthy adds a lovely guitar solo.  The closing ‘Don’t Trust My Life’ is similarly effective, a Beatle-ish ballad with trippy, bendy guitar, clever drums from Roberts and ruminative bass to go with one of the best melodies on display. It’s intriguing, and draws you in, with a solo of some originality from Norsworthy backed up by Hammond organ from the guesting Bennett Holland.
In spite of its occasional weakness on the melody front, Holy Cow! is a well put together piece of work.  The musicianship is always impressive, and there are always little highlights that grab the attention.  It may not be “Holy cow, Batman!” mind-blowing, but it’s always entertaining.
 
Holy Cow! is released on 3 May.  I can be ordered on vinyl and CD here, and from Apple Music here.

Big Wolf Band - Rebel's Journey

Do you like a good riff?  I like a good riff.  And the good news is that there’s a little corker on ‘Empire And A Prayer’, the opening track on Rebel’s Journey.  It’s bright and breezy and enhanced by piano, the bedrock of a cracking tune that also features nice bass playing through the verses by Mick Jeynes, a neat tumbling turnaround at the end of the chorus, and a well-suited, sharp and tidy guitar solo from main man Jonathan Earp.  Verily, it’s a tune that obeys the law that you should hit the ground running – though it doesn’t half come to a sudden stop.
Some other strong tracks later in the album suggest that Earp and pals have spent a fair bit of time listening to Joe Bonamassa, and have learned a lot about his style of bluesy epic.  ‘Black

Big Bad Wolf Jonathan Earp leads the pack

Dog Blues’ is the first example, a sturdy mid-paced blues with crunching chords and a twiddly riff – to use a technical expression.  Earp’s adds some razor-like lead guitar filigrees, and it’s his solo that signals the epic turn, along with some flurries of organ from Robin Fox, who then joins with Earp in a guitar/organ call and response passage that recalls the guitar and vocal ping pong of Blackmore and Gillan – clichéd perhaps, but I like it all the same. Oh yeah, and it’s one of numerous examples of excellent backing vocals from Zoe Green.
If anything ‘Standing In The Rain’ is even better, Earp’s piercing guitar intro setting the tone, backed up by delicate piano, and a good melody that Earp puts over well. The song features subtle dynamics, and a tasteful first solo of rising tension from Earp, while his second, biting effort ramps things up with some scurrying runs all the way to the rather unconvincing rumble of thunder that brings it to a close. And in case you didn’t get the message, they travel a similar dramatic road later on, with ‘Darker Side Of You’, a satisfying blues ballad with elegiac guitar and chocolate box piano.
There are some differently styled good things elsewhere among the thirteen tracks too, though I could live without the cowboy blues of ‘Valley Of The Kings’, even if the revolving riff is something of an earworm. ‘Six Strings Loaded’ is a rather better stab at something in this particular blues-rock vein, strewn with sharp guitar licks and with Tim Jones’ simple drumming carrying a punch.
‘Crazy Love’ is a bright little rocker full of fluttering organ and guitar, into which they chuck some dollops of funk, while Earp raps out the vocal with conviction, well backed up again by Zoe Green.  And to underline their funk credentials, ‘Just A Little Bit’ is a looser affair, mid-paced and with a good tune and feel, and Green including some sassy “Little bit, little bit of you yeah” lines to another excellent contribution.  Fox is on board with a tasty organ solo too,  Jeynes’ bass bubbles along nicely, and Earp kicks in with a spot-on guitar solo.
I feel like the mix could give more prominence to the rhythm section, including Justin Johnson's rhythm guitar at times, but it’s not a critical issue. And if some songs are a bit more lightweight they’re all still well delivered, whether it’s the upbeat and positive ‘Rise Together’, or the taut and uptempo blues-rocker ‘Living On Borrowed Time', with its squealing guitar and surges of organ backing.
They close with a melodic rock plea for peace in ‘Too Many Times’, a groan of despair about the human cost of war that sports elegantly tinkling piano, swirling organ fills, and excellent guitar tone from Earp on his lead playing.  It kind of fizzles out though, slightly in want of a fresh idea to finish it off.
Rebel’s Journey is an enjoyable album, though I do wish some fat had been trimmed from those 13 tracks to give it a tighter focus.  But hey, that riff on ‘Empire And A Prayer’ will get you to stick around and make your own mind up.
 
Rebel’s Journey is released on 19 April, and can be ordered here.

The Black Keys - Ohio Players

Well, this is nice.
The trouble is, I expect more from The Black Keys than just “nice”, as my recent Ten Top Tracks survey of their career should make clear. Sure, the form that “more” might take will depend on where they’re at right now - I’m not demanding they go over old ground.  But I do want them to make me sit up and pay attention somehow. Unfortunately, Ohio Players doesn’t do that often enough.
This isn’t to say that there’s nothing interesting going on.  On the opener ‘This Is Nowhere’, for example, there’s a booming, sonorous bass line that stands out amid the swirling keys, high-pitched vocals and harmonies - and the sweetly floating but not very resonant chorus.

Pat Carney and Dan Auerbach digest the Blues Enthused view of their new album

There’s are some Northern Soul leanings that have a modicum of appeal, on the likes of ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ and ‘Only Love Matters’.  The four-on-the-floor drums are there on the former, along with horns and strings, plinking keys, and a soulful, falsetto chorus backed up by harmonies.  But it seems weird to me that this two-and-a-half minute excursion required no less than seven writing credits.  ‘Only Love Matters’ is better, perhaps, with a twitchy bass line to go with another straight up back beat, while the “woo-ooh-hoo” vocal interjections give a lift to the already decent chorus, and a hazy, shimmering guitar part catches the ear a bit.
Underlining the soul credentials, there’s a cover of ‘I Forgot To Be Your Lover’ by William Bell and Booker T Jones, with Dan Auerbach delivering a plaintive soul vocal – sans falsetto this time – over a grooving little bass line and some string commentary.  But it fizzles out before the two and half minute mark, like there was an outro they never got round to.
More on point is ‘Please Me (Till I’m Satisfied)’, which opens with some ‘Dance With The Devil’-style drums from Pat Carney, and satisfyingly fuzzy guitar – though the latter fades from prominence before long.  Still, halfway through the album, there’s finally some guts and urgency on display here.  And a few songs later ‘Live Till I Die’ serves up a crunchy riff with an intriguing, Eastern-sounding guitar line on the side, coming over like late Sixties psychedelic pop, with its reverb-heavy vocals.  It feels like there’s more content in its two minutes and 24 seconds than on half the songs here.
‘Read Em And Weep’ has a whiff of the Stray Cats in its low-slung guitar twangery and occasionally offbeat rhythm, and would be quite good if there was a bit more fire about it.  But once again Auerbach defaults to a high-pitched vocal, at least until the chorus kicks in and he drops into a moodier tone.  There’s a bit of attack in ‘Fever Tree’, which features a few slippery, slick guitar licks and a singalong “na na na” segment, acquiring a mildly trippy vibe like, er, ‘Pictures Of Matchstick Men’.  But as it dials down to acoustic guitar and voice it promises more than it delivers.
The closing ‘Every Time You Leave’ has its moments, adding a bit more muscle than elsewhere, and with a neat guitar line punctuated by an unusual “Ssahh!” sound, but it lacks a decent hook.  As such it’s the opposite of the first single, ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’, which relies on a hooky chorus and not much else.  It’s noticeable, in fact, that there isn’t much in the way of guitar breaks or diverting bridges to enliven a lot of these songs - layered, textured instrumentation seems to be the order of the day.
There are a plethora of co-writers abroad on Ohio Players, including Beck popping up on half a dozen tracks, and Noel Gallagher of all people on three, but I struggle to accept that all fourteen of these tracks should have made the cut.. It also seems like anyone who was around the studio on a given day could be given a turn at doing something or other, be it whacking a cowbell or singing backing vocals. As to what co-producer Dan The Automator brought to proceedings – beats me folks, beyond some not exactly prominent samples on ‘Beautiful People’.
It pains me to say it, but on Ohio Players The Black Keys seem to be lacking focus, lacking edge.  I hope they find their mojo again before their next outing.
 
Ohio Players is out now on Easy Eye Sound and Nonesuch Records.

Susan Santos - Sonora

“Do what I want, when I want,” sings Susan Santos on track six of Sonora, which is titled, er, ‘What I Want’.  And it’s a suitably assertive chunk of bluesy rock’n’roll to convey that sentiment, with a throbbing riff, a decent hook, and a slippery guitar solo into which Santos bungs some dollops of grit as well as adding some satisfying overdubs on the way to a gutsy finish.  That lyric is an appropriate statement of intent too, because across the eight tracks here she doesn’t allow herself to get stuck in a rut.
A couple of the best tracks here steer away from blues-rock altogether.  ‘So Long’ comes over like classy, rootsy guitar-jangling pop à la early Pretenders, with a catchy chorus that hints at Kim Carnes 'Bette Davis Eyes'. Meanwhile Santos’s vocal may not be Chrissie Hynde cool but it’s still plenty

Desert rose Susan Santos

stylish, as are the backing vocals she adds towards the end.  Later, ‘Call Me Tonight’ works toe-tappingly well in a similar vein, with hints of the Boss’s ‘Fire’ in the melody, a spiky, stumbling guitar figure, and some fun Santos soloing to boot.
Apparently the desert was an inspiration for much of Sonora (the Sonoran desert crosses the US-Mexican border, by the by), but ‘Snakebite’ sounds less like some Wild West tale of tragic love than a Kinks tune given a woozy European feel – which is both different, and just fine by me.  Maybe it’s a bit overlong, but the interesting percussion sounds and swoops of slide do enough to hold the attention.
There’s definitely more of an American vibe to ‘Voodoo Wheels’ though, which comes over like Texas blues as it rattles along on skipping, shuffling drums, while Santos adds buckets of low-slung baritone guitar twang, and adds a skimming, scratching, bendy solo too.  It puts me in mind of Ian Siegal’s ‘I Am The Train’, with his guitar amigo Dusty Cigaar in the lead guitar seat – and that’s a positive comparison, believe me.
‘Have Mercy’ on the other hand, is a quirky slice of laid back honky tonk tootling that blends bluesiness with country and even hints of jazz in a smile-raising, slightly boozy fashion. It’s got an interesting melody with occasionally surprising twists, and a pleasing, spangly guitar break too, giving it an extra lift.
This multi-faceted selection actually comes as a pleasant surprise after the opening ‘Hot Rod Lady’, a clichéd bit of chugga-boogie  which suffers from less than scintillating lyrics and a pretty predictable chorus. Still, the rhythm section of David Salvador on bass and Juli El Lento on drums rumble along in intriguing fashion, and Santos adds a half-decent two-part guitar solo to perk things up.
I'm pleased to say she makes a better fist of the closing ‘Let It Ride’ though, to exit on a positive note.  A game of two halves, it kicks off in an energetic funky blues rock groove with SRV-like choppy rhythm guitar, with a straightforward chorus and a skating, warped guitar solo.  Then it segues into a slowed-down, grinding second phase dominated by slowly bent out of shape guitar groaning and squealing, before closing with some squeaking’n’bleeping atmospheric interference.
Apparently Sonora is the sixth album by Madrid-based Santos, which is news to me. It makes for an appealing letter of introduction though. I look forward to hearing more of her diverse, do-what-I-want stylings in the future.
 
Sonora is released on 5 April, and is available on vinyl and CD here, and digitally here.