Quickies - Austin Gold, Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts, and Dirty Honey

Lend me your ears, citizens - it’s time to catch up with a triple whammy of rocking sounds that I’ve got on board with recently.
 
Austin Gold – Ain’t No Saint
 
Crikey – suddenly we’re on to the fourth album by English melodic hard rockers Austin Gold, and the blighters still haven’t managed to break through to the level they deserve.  Shurely shomething wrong, I say, after getting my ears around Ain’t No Saint.
Title track ‘Ain’t No Saint’ is a mini-epic that sets out their stall big time.  The intro teases with subtle shining-on-crazy-diamonds guitar and keys, leading into a tense, pulsing section with breathy vocals from main man David James Smith, before fairly exploding into a crunching riff

Austin Gold - mean, moody, and melodic

embellished by swirling keys from Adam Leon, Smith’s urgent vocals and trilling lead guitar then cranking up even more pressure.
‘The Wire Defines’ follows, another bracing whack to the shell-likes, but a stylish one. Borne in on a tough riff and waves of organ, it then reveals AG's more melodic side on the AOR-styled verses, before crashing into a shout-along chorus.  Dave Smith is one of those standout singers who really grabs your attention, and between that, the surging organ and searing lead guitar, they have moments of Magnum-like grandeur.
Chief songwriter Smith is an avowed Beatles-nut. So there’s an undercurrent of Fab Four melodic sensibility on the likes of ‘Not Enough’, with its tender vocals, spangly guitar, and elegant harmonies, and also in the verses of ‘Hang Fire’, a bright and bopping affair on which those lighter verses give way to blasts of organ colliding with a big, tumbiing riff, until Smith’s wiry guitar break goes stratospheric over James Pepper’s snapping beat.
They can slow things down too, as the conversational ballad ‘End Of Our Song’ demonstrates, Smith impressing with restrained and sensitive guitar work before it gets impassioned to close.  And ‘Return’, which closes the album proper, is another widescreen outing combining flutters of bluesy guitar, aching Floyd grandeur and late period Beatles.
Picking out some other rocking highlights,  ‘Down & Outs’ is organ-drenched, with an anthemic, clap-along riff, good quiet-loud dynamics, and Smith showing off his terrific vocal range, backed by equally impressive harmonies. And if ‘Hold The Anchors’ makes a humble entrance, it then lets loose with a strident, crashing riff, soon matched by another huge chorus, with an intriguing lyric about having to make a stand in the face of challenges.
There are three bonus tracks if you want to splash out on the deluxe version, on which they seem to have experimented with a few different bells and whistles to good effect.  Which is encouraging, though there really should be enough in the ten tracks of the main album to get Austin Gold the attention they merit.  If you like hard rock of the diamond-sharp variety, seek it out.
 
Ain’t No Saint is out now, and can be ordered here.
 
 
Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts – Rogue To Redemption
 
Take a pint of Cheap Trick, a shot or three of Thin Lizzy guitar stylings and Phil Lynott phrasing, a dash of Brian May pomp and circumstance, and a sprinkling of glam rock glitter – et voila, you’ve got something close to the sound of Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts!
The Cheap Trick resemblance reverberates right from the start with ‘Take The Long Way’, in so far as Tuk Smith’s voice is a dead ringer for Robin Zander, and he also deploys some twittering, ‘dream policing’ synth sounds.  More importantly though – even more important than the Lizzy-

Tuk Smith - he may not look glam, but he sounds it

like guitar harmonising turn – is that it’s simply a great song, with the first of numerous irresistible choruses, and typical Smith lyrics like “C’mon shoot me with some truth, I know hearts ain’t bulletproof.”
Then Smith and his pals Nigel Dupree (drums) and Matt 'Pony Boy' Curtis (bass) show that was no fluke with ‘Glorybound’ , its throbbing verses exploding into a mountainous, magnificent, roar-along chorus.  And they follow that with an imperious ‘End Of An Era’, which starts with a Brian May-toned guitar line, and is imbued with the bitter-sweet spirit, if not the sound, of Mott’s ‘Saturday Gigs’.  It features some needle-sharp Smith guitar punctuation and a neo-glam rock anthemic chorus that is - of course - a killer.
And so it goes on, across all nine tracks and 32 minutes, with Smith spewing out lyrics of underdog romance, like Rocky getting up off the canvas round after round until he can scream for Adrienne, all set to a rollicking, glam-tinged garage rock soundtrack.  ‘Little Renegade’ conjures up another stonking chorus, over a riff that rings like the bells of, er, St Trinians.  Oh, alright - Notre Dame.  ‘Blood On The Stage’ is a plaintive mash-up of ‘Wonderwall’ acoustic strumming and Def Leppard getting love bitten.  (It’s worth remembering that Leppard’s Joe Elliott is also a glam-rock fan.)  And ‘Rogue To Redemption’ comes with a Lizzy-like stop-time riff and more guitar harmonies, verses in thrall to Phil Lynott phrasing, and a soaring chorus.
It’s all topped off with the glam-rock romance of ‘When The Party’s Over’, a simple descending riff laying the foundations for another Cheap Trick-meets-Mott The Hoople thriller.
I’m reminded of the lines in the eponymous album by Boston’s The Peppermint Kicks (another rock'n'roll reference point): “I write the songs that try to please you, Something stolen, something borrowed”.  Tuk Smith is on the same page - a rock’n’roll magpie, cheerfully plundering the sounds of his heroes to spectacular effect.  If I’d got hold of Rogue To Redemption when it was released back in August, I’d probably have drooled over it at greater length.  Still, you’ve got the message now, right?
 
Rogue To Redemption is out now.
 
 
Dirty Honey – Can’t Find The Brakes
 
Can’t Find The Brakes is a year old this month.  Sorry about that n’all, but it only crossed my path the other month, when I came across the opening track ‘Don’t Put Out The Fire’ on YouTube, and decided it had enough blues-rock soul’n’guts about it to warrant further investigation.
Listening to ‘Don’t Put Out The Fire’ now, it still justifies my enthusiasm.  It’s got a bluesy opening, a funky strutting groove, and vocalist Marc Labelle adds equal servings of soulfulness and raunch.  With ear-grabbing descending chords underlining a well-hooky chorus, it’s a butt-shaking belter.

Dirty Honey - hello to you too, chaps

Pic by Richie Davis

They keep up the good work on ‘Won’t Take Me Alive’.  Here, as on much of the album, there’s less of a Paul Rodgers soulful rock sound, as Dirty Honey make more like Aerosmith. And to be fair, the quasi-Zeppish funkiness of the twisting’n’turning riff, over more tasty grooving from Justin Smolian on bass and Jaydon Bean on drums, notches up another winner, especially with the bonus of some sinuous guitar lines from John Notto.
They don’t keep up the strike rate from gun to tape though. ‘Roam’ is a pretty stereotypical rock ballad with a big chorus, though Notto does give it some depth with an evocative guitar solo shot.  A better slowie vein is the acoustic-centred ‘Coming Home (Ballad Of The Shire)’, with its tasteful melody embellished by some neat twists, and moody post-chorus guitar.
They’re better when they rock, methinks, with a likeable early Aerosmith vibe to ‘em. So ‘Get A Little High’ has a bit of a Zep-leaning stutter to its verses, paired with a simple chorus, while Notto's slippin’n’sliding guitar interpolations and Smolian’s elasticated bass add extra seasoning.  ‘Can’t Find The Brakes’ is short and sweet, bouncing energetically around another good spiralling riff.  And ‘Ride On’ has a cowbell-tapping, blues-rocking energy to go with its lurching riff, clattering along pleasingly with a top-down, wind-in-the hair vibe.
On closing song ‘Rebel Son’, the longest track on the album, they aim for something more elaborate, piquing interest with good changes of pace and push-and-pull tension, but all in all it feels like the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Dirty Honey have got a lot going for them.  Labelle is a strong vocalist and front man, and the musicianship is great all round.  When they’re good they’re really very good – they just need a bit more consistency.  Keep an ear out for ‘em.
 
Can’t Find The Brakes is out now on Dirt Records.

Quickies - Jack White, Takeaway Thieves, and Snowblind

Today's round-up brings together three different versions of rock'n'roll, from the famed Jack White to up'n'comers Takeaway Thieves and Ireland's "progressive metallers" Snowblind.

Jack White – No Name
 
I can’t say I’m a devoted Jack White fan.  Yeah, I’ve got some albums by The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather, and I admire his determination to do the unexpected and generally fuck things up to keep his audience on their toes.  But he also seems too bleedin’ clever by half at times, and his tendencies towards squawking, whiny vocals and clatter’n’bash percussion can become grating.
But still, I like this – a lot in fact.  It took me a while to get round to buying No Name, and to give it a proper listen, but it was worth it.
Take something like ‘Bless Yourself’, fr’instance, which marries a lead-heavy, jabbing, thudding

Shape-shifting chameleon Jack White

riff to a very Whitean herky-jerky rhythm and a more or less rapped vocal, packing plenty into three minutes. Deciphering White’s lyrics amid the maelstrom isn’t always easy, but he’s no cliché merchant, as this confrontational ‘sermon’ suggests with lines like “If god’s too busy then I’ll bless myself”.  And a little later he’s returning to religious imagery with ‘Archibishop Harold Holmes’, a preaching, testifying monologue by the eponymous pontiff - "Just like Joshua and the fabled walls of Jericho, I'm here to tear down the institution" - on which a churning ‘Immigrant Song’-like riff rides a rap undercurrent, supplemented by a wiry, Sixties-sounding staircase of a guitar theme.
White is the kinda guy with an encyclopaedic musical memory, and on No Name there are lots of can’t-quite-put-your-finger on it glimmerings of old songs and artists.  Are these inadvertent, or is he teasing us, like a fly fisherman casting for trout?  Cop an earful of ‘Terminal Archenemy Endling’ for example, on which spooky guitar notes lead to a melody that nods heavily towards Zeppelin’s ‘That’s The Way’, but brooding rather than sweet and pastoral.  Oh yeah, and the subsequent surging guitar riff sounds pretty Zep-like too.
Whatever, White has bashed out some cracking tunes here. ‘That’s How I’m Feeling’ flips from verses with a darkly post-punk feel to a chorus like a demolition ball, to an intriguing electronica-like guitar break.  ‘Tonight (Was A Long Time Ago)’ is bright and catchy with its stop-start riff of jaggedly resounding chords.  On ‘Underground’ he mashes up Resonator-slide Delta-style blues with perky pop reminiscent of – what, Mungo Jerry maybe?  Okay, maybe not.  But ‘Morning At Midnight’ is a great garage-rock outing, with its jabbing, stabbing riff, quiet/loud dynamics, catchy hook, and scratchy, sparky bridge – as Jack himself proclaims, “Oh yeah!”.  These are my highlights, but you may find your own among the 13 tracks, all delivered with energy and conviction.
Jack White is a chameleon, a shape-shifter, and a moving target.  But No Name, an album he chucked out with barely a whisper of PR, sounds like the work of a guy who woke up one morning from a fever dream of rock’n’roll, hit the studio, and tried to get it all down before it escaped.
 
No Name is out now on Third Man Records.
 
 
Takeaway Thieves – Diamond Point
 
I bought Diamond Point after tripping over the opening track (and single) ‘Kickin’ My Heart Around’ on YouToob, a belter of a glam-rock infused tune if ever I heard one.  It’s a raucous affair with a ringing riff, rasping vocals from Peter McLoughlin, a stonking chorus teeming with gang vocals on the title line, and a neat guitar solo from Ben Gibson that may not be especially original but fits the bill perfectly.

Takeaway Thieves get noisy and sweaty

Pic by Cyclops Gig Photos

The Thieves aren’t wedded to this glam’n’garage rock vibe across the whole of Diamond Point, but they do give it another shot with the rattling rock’n’roll of ‘True Story’, which comes with a glorious turbocharged riff, a cracker of a melody and hook, and more of those all-hands-on-deck backing vocals, plus spasms of piercing, trilling lead guitar.  The following ‘Gotta Get Back’ isn’t in exactly the same space but still rocks like a bastard, kicking off with a snapping snare drum and bouncing riff, to go with McLoughlin’s in-yer-face vocals, enthusiastic grunts of “Yeah – ugh!” on the side, and good dynamics in the bridge.
‘What Do You Want’ is Def Leppard-style anthemic, sorta, with rock steady bass’n’drums from Adam Hall and Max Yates, electro-static riffs to stick your hair on end, and another tasteful bridge.  They show a subtler touch with vocal harmonies here, and there are some smart guitar harmonies too, from Gibson and his guitar buddy Neil Hunter, adding up to three minutes and 11 seconds of sharp and snazzy melodic hard rock.
Elsewhere, straight up hard rock is pretty much their go-to place, and if it doesn’t quite have the same joie de vivre, they still make a decent fist of it.  ‘I’ll Be Waiting For You’ has a pummelling riff, and rat-a-tat vocals from McLoughlin.  ‘Crazy Horse’ is crunching stuff, with a jagged, slaloming riff, racing bass and whomping drums, and wailing vocals from McLoughlin, to which Gibson adds a zinging guitar break.  ‘Sundance’ is built on a staccato riff and some supple bass from Hall, and the chorus brings a bit of a glam-edged spark culminating in some Slade-worthy crashing chords. They cool things off nicely on the bridge too, with some distorted vocals, before another mint-fresh, noodle-free solo from Gibson.
‘Gypsy’ is grinding and gutsy, but perhaps more predictable, though with the odd feisty line like “I’ve stained the carpets everywhere I’ve been”.  They also have a bash at slowing things down with ‘Find My Way Home’, which gets more interesting as they rev it up a bit, and the more ambitious closer ‘Suicide 66’, with its pseudo-Arabic epic moments, though it doesn’t really feel like their sweet spot.
Takeaway Thieves probably won’t be the next big thing, but I reckon they’d be just the job for a noisy, sweaty rock’n’roll gig.  Good luck to ‘em.
 
Diamond Point is out now on Coffee’N’Mint Records, and can be ordered here.
 
 
Snowblind – Shapes In The Trees EP
 
Safe to say this 5 track EP by Irish trio Snowblind ain’t yer typical Blues Enthused review fare.  But I’m covering it because it’s such a headscratcher.  There are some things I really like on Shapes In The Trees, and some things I really don’t – often in the same song.
Partly this is a generational thing.  See, I was a heavy metal kid back in the mists of time, but never got into speed metal, thrash metal, doom metal or anything else that’s long on stürm und drang and short on wit.  Whereas Snowblind are young enough to be very much au fait with the shouty, thud and blunder oeuvre of the likes of, say, Mastodon.  But here’s the thing – Snowblind still come up with elements that appeal to an old git like me.
So let’s consider the eight minute plus opener ‘Shapes In The Trees’.  It kicks off with twisting, spinning guitar lines from Sean Boland, interleaved with bobbing and weaving bass from Ian Mckeon and drumming from Jake McCarthy that’s thunderous to be sure, but also imaginative.

Snowblind - lumberjacks in their spare time, and they're okay

Before long though Mckeon, who I gather undertakes most of the vocal duties, is bawling, snarling and yelping in the throatiest of fashions, and they’re resorting to some pneumatic drill riffing that makes my shoulders sag.  Then after a brief quiet section and some hammer-on-anvil chords Boland embarks on an earcatching, slithering solo admirably and flexibly backed up by the rhythm boys, an approach they laterreprise (after a bit more caterwauling) to create some dazzling patterns.  And right at the end Mckeon – I assume it’s still him – reveals that he can in, in fact, damn well sing.  In these moments of imagination I get the feeling these boys have spent a lot of time listening intently to Rush, for which I applaud them heartily.
And so it goes on.  I don’t go a bundle on the stalking vibe that opens ‘Barrow-wight’, and though the backing gets interestingly spiky as they pick up the pace, Mckeon is back in sinew-straining vocal mode – until suddenly gliding into a swoopingly melodic passage.  Boland drops in an elegant courtly guitar break that could have come from Jethro Tull or Wishbone Ash.  Then after a bit of unnecessary pounding they produce an impressively strident, discordant segment, topped off with soaring, tuneful vocals.
The shortest song here, ‘Primal Spy’, features scurrying, prickly guitar and rapid fire drums, producing a taut and urgent vibe accompanying another bout of quality vocals, and a genuinely hooky chorus.  Eventually it evolves into a different animal, finding deeper, more more gears while McCarthy hammers along like his life depends on it, until they round it off neatly.
Closing track ‘Go Forth’ saddles up with some agonised vocals and a strained melody, before they break out into a headlong rush of a riff, Mckeon more or less chanting along with it in some kind of Hades-bound mantra.  But then they dive into another excellent bridge, well-paced and melodic, with Boland making good use of chorus-type effects, for a breather before another breathless riff over which Boland lays out more excellent guitar work, with crackling tension between his lead lines and the urgent riffing.  Intricate, jack-knifing stuff likes this reminds me of Diamond Head, those head-spinning riff meisters of yore.  Which is nice.
Of course, I’m not really the audience for Snowblind.  But this once-upon-a-time wearer of a badge-adorned denim jacket says they should dial up McCarthy and Mckeon’s capacity for heavy but sinuous rhythm work as the backdrop for Boland’s spiralling, dynamic guitar work, and stick to gen-yoo-wine singing.  That way lies a seriously potent force.  Honest injun.
 
Shapes In The Trees is out now and can be ordered here.

Quickies - Scarlet Rebels, and Brave Rival

Today’s Quickies round-up is a one-two of new generation hard rocking, with the second albums from Welsh band Scarlet Rebels and Portsmouth-based Brave Rival.
 
Scarlet Rebels – Where The Colours Meet
 
For reasons passing understanding, I’ve not come across Scarlet Rebels until now – and on the strength of Where The Colours Meet I’ve clearly been missing out.
They kick start the album with a trio of belters, in ‘Secret Drug’, ‘Let Me In’ and ‘It Was Beautiful’.  The first opens with spiky guitar á la ‘Baba O’Riley’ from lead guitarist Chris Jones, before vocalist Wayne Doyle weighs in with churning rhythm guitar.  Add in thunderous drums, surging riffs, and a simple, bang-yer-head chorus, and they’re off and running like a runaway train.  Then

Scarlet Rebels enjoy a bit of photo shoot posing

Pic by Rob Blackham

the staccato slam of ‘Let Me In’ ups the ante in a hard-rocking manner worthy of Wayward Sons, diamond-sharp rather than blunt-edged metal.  It’s a cracking, tightly assembled tune, and the guitars sound like being in the bell tower of Notre Dame while Quasimodo does his stuff, topped off with a steely solo like a skewer to the ears.  ‘It Was Beautiful’ then drifts in with delicate piano notes and hushed vocals from Doyle, but it’s not long before they’re launching into a big, Manics-like chorus, garlanded by piano in the midst of some ring’n’rip guitar work, with six string harmonies into the bargain.
If they open strong, they maybe close even stronger, with ‘Divide And Conquer’ and ‘My House My Rules’.  The former unleashes a blistering, twisting and turning Celtic-style guitar riff as the accompaniment to an overtly anti-Tory lyric.  Wayne Doyle’s vocal delivery bristles with urgency, as does the song as a whole, with more guitar harmonies and a crashing bridge adding to the fun.  Then ‘My House . . .’ is a co-write with Ricky Warwick that’s lightning-bolt electric, Doyle’s vocal jabbed home clearly and insistently, while Jones adds a suitably shrieking then melodic solo over an earthquake of drums from Gary Doyle.
They don’t let up in between these two poles either.  ‘Grace’ combines a character study lyric, a bouncing riff and an extended, agitated chorus to excellent effect, with a stiletto-like solo and an ear-catching blend of rhythm and lead guitar. And ‘Out Of Time’ is a sweeping, earnest ballad on which Wayne Doyle duets with the guesting Elles Bailey, whose vocal is given an intriguing reverb-drenched/double-tracked treatment.
The word “anthemic” could have been coined for ‘How Much Is Enough’, an exercise in making simplicity count, with mountainous, resounding chords over an uncomplicated, whacking beat, another twirl of guitar harmonies, and an irresistible soaring chorus.  Meanwhile ‘Streets Of Fire’ is a solidly hard-driving affair, sturdily anchored by Carl Oag’s bass, opening with an echoing, Celtic-tinged guitar line that turns into angular embellishment to the rhythm guitar.  And if that’s not enough, ‘Who Wants Be In Love Anyway’ is propelled by hammering bass and drums from Oag and Doyle, with prickly guitars encircling the catchy chorus, and a serrated-edge guitar solo bringing a Muse-like vibe.
If sharp, modern British hard rock is your kinda thing, Where The Colours Meet is absolutely for you.  And for me, without a shadow of a doubt.
 
Where The Colours Meet is out now on Earache Records, and can be ordered here.
 
 
Brave Rival – Fight Or Flight
 
Brave Rival’s USP is the twin lead vocal combination of Chloe Josephine and Lindsey Bonnick, and it has to be said they make good use of their clear, precise voices, dovetailing here and harmonising there.
The mingling of the two vocals works well on the opening ‘Bad Choices’, for example, stretching out the notes on the verses, stuttering riff and twangy bass, but the tongue-twisting lines of the chorus make less of a mark.  But the chorus on ‘Seventeen’ is stronger, complementing the swooping, slurring harmonies of the verses, while pummelling drums from Donna Peters reinforce the stop-start riff.
The purity of the voices also lends itself to an epic, proggy metal kinda vibe, as on ‘Insane’ for

Brave Rival get the bird's eye treatment

Pic by Rob Blackham

example.  A slower animal this one, the spangly guitar suggests mirrorball time, while the breathy vocals and harmonies create a spooky, ghostly atmosphere.  Then there’s a gear change into a big, widescreen chorus.  There’s some nice bass from Billy Dedman, strings providing dramatic counterpoint, and guitarist Ed Clarke gets suitably angsty on his guitar solo, though the high velocity fluttering segment isn’t especially individual.
There’s a similar kind of neo-Dio vibe going on with the mid-tempo ‘Blame The Voices’, which is awash with strings and comes with an attention-grabbing bass line.  There’s a crunching staccato riff in the bridge, and Clarke’s solo has a strong sense of the epic.  But it also illustrates a couple of their less positive tendencies, with overly wordy lyrics and the kitchen sink being thrown in at the end to less effect than they probably imagine.
‘Unravelling’ demonstrates the value of a bit more simplicity, with push-and-pull alternating vocals over a stop-time riff – another favoured modus operandi – and clacking wood block.  With a good hook, and waves of organ courtesy of guest Jonny Henderson, it’s catchy in a Purplish kinda way, though the female voices give it a pomp rock slant.  Clarke’s guitar solo is neat, but the wordy, high-pitched bridge creates some unnecessary complication.
‘All I Can Think About’ has an acoustic opening and folky vibe, with an appealing vocal arrangement, and provides a welcome, sensitive breather – at least until they surge into tidal wave mode again, with mucho agitation.  ‘Five Years On’ explores a different angle though, with a twitching riff and funky rhythm, before veering into some interestingly wonky revolving guitar chords and an undercurrent of organ.  This time the rat-a-tat vocals work, and the bluesy guitar break is refreshing, though they still pile on the power for the chorus.
There’s some blues too in the mellow intro to the closing ‘Stars Upon My Scars’, and they maintain some wistful restraint for a while, with patient guitar weaving, the pressure building with purpose until the dam eventually breaks with an accelerating screamer of a solo from Clarke, making for a strong finish.
Brave Rival have certainly got a few things going for them, not least the combined vocals of Josephine and Bonnick.  I reckon they need to work on smarter lyrics though, and more distinctive melodies too at times.  Meantime I have a hankering for some more straight up rock’n’roll after all that epic intensity.
 
Fight Or Flight is out now, and can be ordered here.

Quickies - Quinn Sullivan, Chris Cain, Lara Price and Alex Voysey

Catching up on some recent releases from different shades of the blues spectrum.

Quinn Sullivan – Salvation
 
What manner of artist is Quinn Sullivan?  The guy’s tastes seem to be eclectic, and for me the results when he hits the ‘Record’ button are also a bit mixed.
With his pleasant, airy voice he does a good job on the kinda ‘Boys Of Summer’ West Coast rock vibe of opener ‘Dark Love’.  With its lurching beat and chunky guitar sound it’s a grabber

Quinn Sullivan avoids being blinded by the light

Pic by Jim Arbogast

from the start, and has a fun electric piano break as a precursor to Sullivan letting rip – well, a bit – on guitar.  In fact it’s a bit of a recurring theme that our Quinn tends to wear his guitar chops lightly, though his scintillating solo on ‘Don’t Wanna Die Today’ hints at his ability to wig out.  But on the closing live recording of ‘Eyesight To The Blind’, an upbeat take with funk leanings, he really does let himself go, knocking out some fizzing guitar work and squealing soloing over the galloping drums and high revving bass.  More of this kinda sound would be a good thing, sez I.
There’s a taste of it in the staccato rocker ‘Rise Up Children’, which with Sullivan’s light vocals and bursts of slide over a whacking backbeat puts me in mind of Tyler Bryant.  The funk aspect also comes over well on ‘Salvation (Make Me Wanna Pray)’ and ‘I Can’t Stay (And You Can’t Go)’, the former featuring squelchy, Vocoder-like guitar licks, and the latter sporting a taut guitar break leading to an equally taut, almost tough bridge, before some more ear-catching guitar work to close.
Some stuff appeals less though.  The sophisticated blue-eyed soul of ‘Once Upon A Lie’ is done well, but isn’t my kinda thing.  ‘Better In Love’ is soft and slow, and what you might call a winsome sort of love song – or maybe just a bit soppy.  And ‘Half My Heart’ is Sullivan’s all too obvious shot at an ersatz Beatles ballad, on which the weeping guitar intro may work but the drippy lyric doesn’t.
Quinn Sullivan is a talented young guy, evident in some of the songs here.  But while I’m all for variety, Salvation is just a bit scattergun.  A bit more focus would be welcome, to better harness Sullivan’s obvious strengths.
 
Salvation is out now on Provogue/Mascot Label Group, and can be ordered here.

Chris Cain – Good Intentions Gone Bad
 
Less is more.  The whole is less than the sum of its parts.  These are the axioms that spring to mind listening to the latest album from Chris Cain.
Chris Cain’s guitar tone is as zesty as it was on his 2021 album Raisin’ Cain, and he can still turn a nifty lyrical phrase when he puts his mind to it, but his voice shows signs of creaking a bit at times here.
Sometimes vocal wear and tear can be an asset in a blues setting, mind you.  Cain’s delivery of

Chris Cain and a guitar called Melba

Pic by Laura Carbone

the pessimistic lyric on the downbeat ‘Waiting For The Sun To Rise’ is convincing, and his atmospheric, sustain-heavy solo also serves the song well, along with the Mellotron strings contributed by producer Kid Andersen.  But while some of Cain’s own piano playing, some doesn’t, and a snatch of Bach-like organ is plain distracting.  It’s an example of inconsistency that raises its head more than once.
But hey, there are good moments to be found all the same.  Opener ‘Too Little Too Late’ is a brisk and bright jump blues with an amusing lyric, though it runs out of gas a bit.  ‘Still Drinking Straight Tequila’ is funky fare led by Kid Andersen’s deep down bass lines, with a lyric about a guy’s lifestyle improvements – one or two elements excepted. With a neat contrast between verse and chorus, the latter blessed with neat backing vocals from Lisa Andersen, and a fun guitar solo, it may not be a masterpiece but it works.  The following ‘Bad Dream’ is a slow blues with tense, pinging guitar that has real character, with Cain adding some restrained tinkling piano over Andersen’s thoughtful, plonking bass, and the vocal is on the money here too.  Later, ‘Never Let You Break My Heart’ is another slow blues, about relationship breakdown and self-respect, with pointed lyrics and a good melody, plus some nifty guitar licks and a good electric piano solo from Cain.  It’s worth saying too, that the bass playing on the album, shared largely by Kid Andersen and Cody Wright, is often what gives proceedings a bit of zip.
Cain’s actual guitar solo on ‘Never Let You Break My Heart’ feels like pretty standard fare though, an issue that crops up from time to time.  Listening to the likes of ‘I Was Wrong’ and ‘Had About All I Can Take’ for example, there’s a sense that as sharp as Cain’s playing can be, some of the solos across the album aren’t sufficiently rooted in the individual songs.Ultimately, Good Intentions Gone Bad is a so-so album, which could have done with some judicious pruning to give it more definition and less repetition.  Less is more, and all that.
 
Good Intentions Gone Bad is out now on Alligator Records.

Lara Price – Half And Half

Lara Price gets halfway up the stairs

Pic by Brynn Osborn

Titled to reflect the fact that half the album was recorded in the San Francisco Bay Area where Lara Price has her musical roots, and half in Austin, Texas where she now plies her trade, it seems to me that Half & Half is a half-decaff first outing from Lara Price.
The girl can certainly sing though, as she demonstrates on a couple of tasteful covers.  Duke Ellington’s ‘Solitude’ is very much Great American Songbook territory, with jazz guitar accompaniment, sweetly sung with good phrasing from Price – nicely done, if you like that sort of thing.  The soulful torch song ‘Trouble, Heartache, Sadness’, penned by Ann Peebles and Don Bryant, is better though.  It’s smoochy and slinky, nicely put together with swooning female backing vocals, and Price absolutely does it justice, ultimately embellished by muted, conversational guitar and piano from Mike Schermer and Baxter Robertson that’s sadly allowed to fade out without further input from Price.
‘Fools Like Me’ and ‘Days Ago’ go in a different, country-inflected direction, the first a brief but bubbly outbreak of honky tonk, with chugging guitar and chiming piano, the second a slice of boogie with a suspenseful chorus and bridge, and an apparently uncredited male singer adding a ‘Walking In Memphis’ twist of soul.  Speaking of soul, the closing ‘Heart On A String’ is a catchy enough soul ditty, with Robertson’s piano and organ to the fore and Endre Tarczy’s bass bopping about elastically en route to an arresting key change.
In between these tunes though, several tracks feel inconsequential, lacking in oomph or sturdy hooks.  So you might say that half of Half & Half hits the spot, and half finds Lara Price trying to settle on her style.  There’s potential there, but it’s still to be fully realised.

 
Half & Half is out now on Gulf Coast Records.

Alex Voysey – Blues In Isolation
 
On the evidence of this second album, British guitarist and singer Alex Voysey is, shall we say, rather more comfortable with the strumming than the humming. Which is a pity, because when he chances on some material where he’s more comfortable in both zones, things bumble along quite nicely.
On the country-folkish blues of ‘Start Talking’, for example, he may not shoot the lights out as a singer, but his English intonation fits the jaunty charm of the tune and its revolving acoustic guitar line quite well.  Similarly the closing ‘Whiskey And Wine’ paints a picture of domestic harmony with easy conviction, and accordingly Voysey’s vocal seems to acquire more authenticity, and his solo is a good fit too, playing around with the melody.  Meanwhile ‘Forbidden Rock’n’Roll Jam’ seems to benefit from a don't give a damn, let the good times roll

Alex Voysey gets down to some illicit rock'n'roll jamming

kinda attitude.  Reflecting on rumours of illicit pandemic music parties, Voysey and friends get stuck in and thrive on the resulting energy, with some vibrant guitar, enthusiastic backing vocals from Alison Jiear, scudding bass from Ben Hands, and Voysey ultimately coming over all Chuck Berry.
‘Watch The Sky’ starts with mellow electric piano from Andy Allpass, and stirs some interest as Voysey’s guitar gets gutsy and starts to sting, reaching for an epic feel even if the melody isn’t always convincing.  Voysey’s solo is decent though, emphasising direction rather than getting carried away with possibilities.  ‘Old Shop On The Corner’ is a slow ‘un that hints at decent story-telling, but while the mood is captured, it doesn’t fulfil its potential as Voysey’s guitar work veers from a good feel for the material into some less potent flurries of high speed fluttering.
And so it goes, really.  ‘Down The Long Dark Road’ has some spangly guitar phases and thematic lead lines, but loses focus, while ‘Life You Lead’ has a satisfying Celtic-tinged guitar riff, but not much else to fire the imagination.  ‘You Better Come Back Home’ has a staccato funk vibe, with well-grooved bass and drums from Hands and Paul Arthurs respectively, but Voysey’s guitar fills work better than his flickering solo.  His sparky effort on the funky blues of ‘Away To Mississippi’ is better, and Allpass augments it with a good organ break, but the song itself isn’t that arresting.
Alex Voysey is clearly interested in different strands of blues and rock, but the challenge is for him to produce more material that allows him to express himself with real quality.
 
Blues In Isolation is out now, and can be ordered here.

Quickies - Gun, and FM

You could call this a Rock of Ages reunion of Quickies reviews, since both Gun and FM go back more than a few years, to my hard rock following twenties.  Yet here they are again, many moons later, both serving up new albums for consideration.
 
Gun – Hombres
 
When Gun burst onto the scene in 1989 with their debut album Taking On The World, then followed up with Gallus, they sounded fresh and convincing, and had a clear identity of their own. Success didn’t last back then of course, but they’ve been back for a while now, and with Hombres they show that they’re still capable of sounding fresh.
Opening track ‘All Fired Up’ is typical hard charging Gun riffing, with thumping drums from Paul McManus and some twirling guitar garnish on the side. It may not be wildly original, but it’s

Gun - All fired up and stuck in a lift

delivered with conviction, and sonically has a modern sheen to it. And that’s pretty much the template for what follows.
‘Boys Don’t Cry’ may have a grinding rhythm and jagged riff, but those elements are complemented by a melodic chorus with a pleasing hook, and some airy harmonies.  Then ‘Take Me Back Home’ leaps into headbanging hard rock territory, but adds a coat of gloss and a Lizzy-like guitar interlude – plus a weird effect that sounds like the roar of a velociraptor.
So it continues with the mid-paced stomp of ‘Fake Life’, spritzed up with a bucket of melodic rock leanings.  ‘You Are What I Need’ brings an air of romance, with its swaying backing and higher-pitched vocal from Dante Gizzi, leading to a singalong chorus.  And ‘Never Enough’ may have a stuttering riff and rasping vocal, but again the end result is gleaming and catchy rather than roughcast, with a screaming guitar solo downshifting into a melodic bridge.
There’s also a sense on the closing pair of tracks, ‘Lucky Guy’ and ‘Shift In Time’, that the Gunners are allowing some space for broader influences to get in the game.  ‘Lucky Guy’ throbs into life with guttural bass from Andy Carr and a simple kick drum beat, blended with a drawling vocal and shimmering backing vocals, then it explodes into life and jabs away like a boxer as it reaches for a chorus reminiscent of Bryan Ferry’s take on ‘The Price Of Love’, topped off with a siren-like guitar solo. Then ‘Shift In Time’ deploys acoustic guitar to back a melody with a Fab Four ‘A Day In The Life’ vibe. It expands into anthemic mode, spiced up with what some synth-like twiddling, on the way to a swaying, singalong chorus enhanced by soaring female backing vocals, and a piercing guitar solo of a Brian May tonal quality.
Gun are just as direct as in their original incarnation, but seem to have developed an extra layer of subtlety, finding a few extra ingredients in the back of the cupboard to liven things up. It’s good to have them back, and in fine fettle.
 
Hombres is out now on Cooking Vinyl.
 
 
FM – Old Habits Die Hard
 
Weirdly, I have no recollection of FM’s early days, even though their launch in 1984 was right in the middle of my Sounds-reading, hard-rock-listening early twenties. None. I have no explanation for this.
Listening to tracks such as ‘Don’t Need Another Heartache’ this seems like a shame. Pitched somewhere between Foreigner and Bad Company, it comes with bubbling keys, gutsy chords,

FM - Steve Overland fails to read 'shades' memo

Pic by Paul Stuart Hollingsworth

guitar harmonies, and a general air of blues rock grit. ‘No Easy Way Out’ also impresses, with more echoes of Foreigner in the intro, a good hook and soaring harmonies.
The quasi-epic ‘Black Water’ adds some drama to the mix, a slowish tune with an atmospheric undercurrent of dappled keys from Jem Davis, melodic bass and shimmering guitar, leading to a chorus with a bit of punch, and a squealing guitar solo from the hands of Jim Kirkpatrick. And later on ‘Leap Of Faith’ has satisfying heft in the form of its somersaulting, tumbling riff, making it rock as well as roll.
Then again, opening track ‘Out Of The Blues’ is a song where the whole is, for my tastes, a bit less than the sum of its parts. Sure, there’s an interesting African-type rhythm thing going on over the steady beat, Merv Goldsworthy’s bass rumbles away pleasingly, and there are some neat, tasteful guitar licks and soloing. Too neat really – the overall result is very AOR, á la Toto, or late period Doobie Brothers, and that’s too smooth for me. ‘Whatever It Takes’ is similarly a bit too slick and shiny.  Meanwhile ‘Cut Me Loose’ may sound like it’s been cut from Mike & The Mechanics cloth, but curiously enough it works rather better.
‘California’ is bright and engaging, as sunny and driving-with-the-top-down as its title suggests, and with a couple of zinging guitar solos to boot.  ‘Another Day In My World’ is edgier, and with its rhythmic quirks and driving guitar, plus Davis’ squirreling keys, it too hits the target.  Then to close there’s ‘Blue Sky Mind’, on which a strong melody is given the right kind of glossy but propulsive treatment, the guitar work elegantly ear-catching.
FM have obviously got the musical and songwriting chops. To really be my cup of char though, they could do with a bit more spit and a bit less polish.
 
Old Habits Die Hard is out now on Frontiers Records, and can be ordered here.

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.

Quickies - Silveroller, Black Cat Bone, and Today Was Yesterday

Okay readers, it’s time to catch up on three new releases in different flavours, ranging from British blues-rock to sleazy rock’n’roll to some new prog that features Alex Lifeson of Rush as a guest.
 
Silveroller – At Dawn EP
 
Well, this is fun. Old-fashioned kinda fun, sticking on Silveroller’s new 6-track EP and hearing echoes of British rock from the early Seventies reverberating down the ages.
But Silveroller aren’t some bunch of greybeards who’ve assembled to churn out the same old same old.  No, they’re a young,  gallus five-piece doing their own thing and doing it in ear-catchingly good fashion.  All the same, when they whack into 'Black Crow', with its stick-and-

Silveroller - cheer up lads!

move riff and some blaring organ from Ross Munro, it feels like some Purple-ish musical paint has been splashed around.
But they’re not copyists of anyone, as the following ‘Hold’ demonstrates, with its crisp drums and a gutsy, fuzzy riff that’s chased along by the organ, paving the way for the strong, confident vocals of Johnnie Hodson, which do plenty to establish their distinctive personality.  Oh yeah, and a neat drop down into an organ break providing some light and shade then crashes into an all-action guitar solo from Aaron Keylock, a one-time youthful solo artist who sounds much more at home in this band setting.
There are more dynamics evident in ‘Ways Of Saying’, which combines downbeat verses – nicely piano-dappled on the second time around - with a pounding chorus full of jabbing chords, and some fizzing guitar work.  And by now another pleasing aspect of the Silveroller identity is coming over: they sound very British. They may listen to the Black Crowes, but when they do rootsy rock’n’roll of their own it leans towards Faces-like rough and tumble, underlined by some shoutalong backing vocals.
They go up and down through the gears smoothly on ‘Turn To Gold’ with its sweetly melodic intro, satisfying harmonies, and rootsy guitar break en route to a dramatic crescendo on which Joe Major earns his drum-thrashing corn.  Keylock shows off some buzzsaw slide guitar on ‘Other Side’, to go with a bustling riff and suspenseful Morse Code-like bridge, and another emphatic Hodson vocal.  Then they close with ‘Come On, Come In’, with a bluesy intro before some whacking guitar ramps it up into demi-epic mode. Keylock cracks out another impressive solo too, and the song glides soulfully to a close with an outro carrying echoes of Etta James and ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’.
Fingers crossed that this first release doesn’t turn out to be a false dawn, because with quality writing, smart arrangements and bang-on delivery, Silveroller are mint-fresh and show bags of promise.

The At Dawn EP is out now, and can be ordered here.
 
 
Black Cat Bone – Tales Of The Amplified
 
Anyone who responded positively to previous examples of Black Cat Bone’s greasy, grungy rumble’n’roll is going to be happy with the likes of ‘Shake It’ and ‘Freak Machine’ on their new album.  The former kicks off with interstellar warbling noises, but with its grinding riff and Ewan Mackenna’s subterranean bass it’s definitely more to do with dark matter than starlight.  The latter is is driven by rolling, thumping drums from Kai Wallace and ringing guitar from Jamie

Black Cat Bone - they like it subterranean

Beaton, and conjures up hints of the Yardbirds with its anthemic backing vocals and, after a breather in the middle, an explosive rave-up segment. And with its trampolining riff, interrupted by siren-like bursts of guitar and wails of harp, ‘Loose Juice’ is also emphatic fare, like roaring down the highway on the back of a Harley, until rather too soon it somewhat fizzles out.
But there are outbreaks of subtlety evident elsewhere.  The opening ‘Undertone’ opens with a piano refrain, courtesy of the guesting Andy Barbour, and if it develops into a mid-paced chug it’s still moody rather than turbo-charged, even though the guitar and Ross Craig’s harp get a bit anguished.  But ‘Let It Breathe’ is even more startling, a long, romantic swoon of a song even with the grit of Craig’s croaking vocals.  It’s not a one-off either, as ‘Pick Yourself Up’ is another slowie, a simple song with a dreamy, Achtung Baby vibe, right down to Craig’s aching voice.
The closing combination of ‘Blue For You’ and ‘Whoa’ pull in different directions.  ‘Blue For You’ starts off rootsy, with low key sprinkles of guitar over restrained drums, but then changes gear for the chorus thanks to some slamming guitar chords from Beaton.  ‘Whoa’ is a trippier kinda animal, a hypnotic, fuzzy riff occasionally overlaid with slide guitar remarks, while Craig’s vocal is a moaning, mantra-like repetition of the title until the track slowly fades out.
So yeah, BCB’s trademark grimy rock’n’roll is still the backbone of Tales Of The Amplified, but there are also some more mind-expanding explorations that go well with the Hipgnosis-like album cover.  Still not music for meditation though!
 
Tales Of The Amplified is available digitally now, and will be released on vinyl and CD on 5 April.
 
 
Today Was Yesterday – Today Was Yesterday
 
American duo Ty Dennis and Angelo Barbera have served a fair bit of time as sidemen, often together, and have now combined on the prog-leaning project Today Was yesterday.  To be honest though, my prime motivation for giving the album a listen is that six of the tracks feature Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson as a guest.
And there is in fact, a hint of a late period Rush tinge to the opening track ‘GRACE’, with its booming, discordant chords bouncing all over the place, counterpointing some mandolin-like sounds.  Angelo Barbera is a very different kinda vocalist to Geddy Lee though, echoing around

Today Was Yesterday in arty camera angle incident

in a lower register. The melody isn’t a killer, but the song maintains interest through the intricate riff and rhythms that swing into action three minutes in.
Lifeson’s handiwork is more obvious on ‘A Louder Silence’, as he adds squalls of guitar texture to the off-kilter rhythm and stuttering bass that form the foundation of the track, creating something that’s less song than sound picture, perhaps.
Tunes like ‘On My Own’ and ‘Faceless Faraway Song’ are suggestive of Peter Gabriel.  The former is light and sweet, with sparse offbeat drums and scintillations of acoustic guitar.  The latter is languid and downbeat, like swimming in a dark pool, with buzzes of guitar and distorted background vocals adding colour.
A couple of guest-free tracks offer useful diversions.  On ‘I Take All’ Barbera’s twitchy bass combines in funk fusion fashion with Dennis’s drums amid some electropop-ish bleeps and squirls of synth, and Barbera chucks in a tasty guitar injection as well as a good old-fashioned organ break towards the fade-out.  Meanwhile ‘Rukus’ edges into more modern prog stylings, à la Porcupine Tree maybe.  There are some wonky synth notes, and snappy drums that certainly aren’t about dance grooves, then it shifts into a steadier trot to underpin bubbling bass and edgy guitar, creating an oddball atmosphere. Dunno what the muffled spoken word snippets are meant to add though.
Robby Krieger turns up to add a brief burst of low-slung, fuzzy guitar to the swooning ‘If I Fall (Silly Games)’, with its swooshing keys and halting drums, and to make some slower, sweeter-toned but off-kilter intrusions towards then end.  The closing ‘My New Low’, which has probably the best melody on the whole album, with Barbera’s yearning, occasionally double-tracked vocal living up to it, while Lifeson returns to the fray with a romantically styled guitar break that fades away to leave a quiet piano outro.
It's evident from the execution that Dennis and Barbera know their onions as musicians, but the songs mostly fall a bit short in the hook department, and Barbera’s voice isn’t that arresting either.  Today Was Yesterday is an interesting enough exercise, but not strong enough to warrant multiple listens.
 
Today Was Yesterday is out now on Music Theories Recordings, and can be ordered here.

Quickies - Evan Nicole Bell, Robby Krieger And The Soul Savages, Harpo Walker

Evan Nicole Bell – Runaway Girl EP

Twitter-using blues listeners may be familiar with the name Evan Nicole Bell.  She’s the young thing from Baltimore who shares videos of her sitting outside on the steps in the sunshine, playing covers of blues songs.  Armed with just her guitar, some loops and rhythms, and her honeyed voice, she comes across as something fresh and charming, and has garnered millions of views.
Somewhat disappointingly, her first proper release comprises just three tracks, plus a radio edit of the title track.  But still, what has young Evan got for us?

Evan Nicole Bell - playing on a front step near . . . Baltimore

Opening track ‘Burn’ has a vaguely Latin feel, and if there’s something sunny about the relaxed sway of it, the lyrics are a bit more downbeat.  After a minute drums arrive to pep up the clicking rhythm a bit, but overall the vibe remains a bit too nu-soul, a bit like Sade but without the sleek froideur.
It’s a handbrake turn from there into ‘Catfish Blues’, which Bell launches with a flurry of trilling guitar notes en route to the riff being delivered with Hendrixy fuzz over a steady beat and stutters of bass.  Bell’s vocal ranges from reflective to sultry to hints of raunch, while she saddles up on guitar to deliver a couple of tasty breaks before wrapping up sharpish in three short minutes.
‘Runaway Girl’ itself is the strongest offering here, though some way off what could reasonably be described as blues.  At its core are stop-start piano chords over a lazy beat, while Bell manipulates the interesting melody into a rattle-and-pause vocal.  For a while it sounds like the skeleton of some modern R&B chart-directed tune, but it gets more impressive as Bell’s vocal gets more agitated and soulful, culminating in a guitar break of needle-sharp wiriness.
The Runaway Girl EP is little more than a toe dipped in the water from Evan Nicole Bell.  A full assessment of her talents will have to wait for a more substantive outing.
 
The Runaway Girl EP is out now.
 
 
Robby Kreiger And The Soul Savages – Robby Krieger And The Soul Savages

I think it’s safe to say that I’m not really the target audience for this all-instrumental album from one-time Doors guitarist Robby Krieger.  Whereas the Doors came up with a string of great, distinctive songs that I could absolutely get behind, the Soul Savages offer up a sleek brand of jazz-fusion that doesn’t do much for me at all.
The musicianship is certainly high-level, focused largely on the interplay between Krieger’s

Robby Krieger - not such a savage soul

guitar and the keyboards of Ed Roth, but the chops of bassist Kevin Brandon and drummer Franklin Vanderbilt are also self-evident.  The trouble is that they’re collaborating on material
that, despite their name, lacks any real soul.
For example, there are interesting things going on in the opening ‘Shark Skin Suit’, from the funky bass groove to some queasy, oddball keyboard fills, and low-bending guitar picking up the main theme before Roth and Krieger get busy on an organ break and a more upscale guitar solo respectively.  But the whole doesn’t really sum like even the sum of its parts.  And could ‘A Day In LA’, with its laid grooves, form the background to a movie scene involving beautiful people messing around on a sun-kissed West Coast beach?  Or is it just elevator music?
‘Contrary Motion’ is interesting in so far as it’s built around a theme – nothing so vulgar as a riff on display here – that sounds maddeningly familiar.  Is it a facsimile of something from Colosseum II’s Variations, or an echo of some 60s/70s movie theme?  Whatever, Krieger adds some interestingly warped guitar play, and Roth some pseudo-classical organ, but it all feels rather like an exercise in cleverness, without any emotional content.
On ‘Bouncy Betty’ it feels like Betty isn’t so much bouncy as a bit coquettish, fluttering her musical eyelashes.  Meanwhile ‘Richochet Rabbit’ has neither the zing of a ricochet nor the scurrying energy of a rabbit, comprising largely inconsequential noodling.
I’ll give ‘em some credit for ‘Blue Brandino’, on which an intriguing opening groove is interrupted by peremptory bursts of twiddling guitar and organ, in a manner vaguely redolent of Paice Ashton Lord’s ‘Ghost Story’.  Krieger adds a more muscular guitar solo, and late on there’s aheap of phasing going on to maintain the attention, but that’s about as good as it gets.

Tom Walker plays invisible harp

I have visions of Fagen and Becker sitting in the control room while some session guns for hire doodle away for a few minutes at the end of a recording session, and Fagen saying:  “Yeah, well we don’t need any of this shit, do we?”  “Hell no,” replies Becker.  But like I say, this really just isn’t my scene, man.
 
Robby Krieger And The Soul Savages is out now on The Players Club/Mascot Label Group, and can be ordered here.
 
 
Harpo Walker – Bruised Heart Blues

This is one of the more interesting instances of “ones that got away” from last year – kept meaning to write about it, but never quite managed it.
British singer, harp player, guitarist and songwriter Tom ‘Harpo’ Walker emigrated to Australia a couple of years before the pandemic, and shortly afterwards rediscovered his musical mojo after walking into a Sydney pub and tripping over a blues jam.  And so here he is with Bruised Heart Blues, covering a few blues bases, mostly in a laid back kinda vein.
A couple of tunes carry hints of JJ Cale, the more convincing of them being the opener ‘I’m A Fool’, with its groaning vocal, sporadic moans of harp and squeaks of conversational slide guitar.  A couple of others explore a folkie-pop groove, ‘Nothing Worth Knowing Comes Easy’ is warm, mellow and acoustic-driven, and if the melody is a bit thin, it’s still nice enough, while ‘Don’t Stop’ is a jaunty little outing with echoes of Stealer’s Wheel.
Two of the most pleasing tracks feature guest appearances from British blues chanteuse Dani Wilde.  ‘Ride On’ centres on a very ‘Smokestack Lightning’ riff, but it’s Wilde’s smoochy vocal that catches the ear, forming a nice contrast with Walker’s more gravelly tones, while Ewan Lund adds pleasing spurts of pinging guitar.  Then Wilde reappears to get all breathy on the dreamy, Ray Charles-like soul of ‘Start Again’, with Lund contributing some more tasteful solo-ing.
‘Time Bomb’ brings a smoky groove and some wheezing harp to a decent, rolling tune.  Meanwhile ‘Tearing Me Up Inside’ approaches Wily Bo Walker’s ‘Voodooville’ territory, with a noir-ish, characterful narrative atmospherically delivered by Walker overly a Latin-tinged groove, to which Lund this time adds some biting guitar embellishment.
Bruised Heart Blues comes over like an easy-going session in the back room of a pub on a sunny afternoon, with a few beers and some enjoyable chat in friendly company.  If that sounds like your kind of thing, then get a round in.
 
Bruised Heart Blues was released in May 2023 on Big Rock Records.