Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton - Death Wish Blues

Coming soon to a drive-in near you . . .
 

DEATH WISH BLUES

 
Don’t miss the thrilling tale of Sam and Jesse, a deadly duo of star-crossed rock’n’roll outlaws, hustling gigs from town to town.
 
They’re on the road . . .
They're wearing leather . . .
And they
PLAY GUITAR!
 
Or sump’n like that.  I mean, I'm not sure Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton would tell you Death Wish Blues is any kinda concept album.  But still - clad in danger signal yellow/black artwork, the whole Bonnie’n’Clyde schtick is there if you want it.

Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton - Natural Born Killers

Pic by Melrose Kaelan Barowski

I mean, who’s seducing who on the darkly throbbing opener ‘Deathwish’?  Backed by a slithering riff, Fish jabs out a lyric about a woman advancing on a guy standing in the shadows at a party, sticking his hand on her shoulder, and feeling his breath on her neck as he leans in for a “kiss like a death wish," inspiring some hectic guitar soloing.  And is this the same twosome that head off down the highway on ‘Riders’, grifting a rock’n’roll living with (so to speak) one-night stands from coast to coast?  Here they're propelled by some funky, squelchy keyboards, prodding bass and six-string stings, while the chorus adds raunch that's underlined by a warped, buzzsaw guitar break.
These are troubled characters though, our hero declaring on ‘Trauma’ that because of her he has “fever in my dreams” but “it’s never gonna stop me loving you”, over a shuffling rhythm from Aaron Johnston on drums, edgy, spaced out guitar notes and a twitching riff.  Then that trauma erupts into a squall of guitar over a Zep-like bridge, as the track heads towards an agonised conclusion.  In response, Fish delivers the very Fish-like love song ‘No Apology’, opening with vulnerable, aching vocals, insisting that “I can’t be your enemy and your everything,” but that “It’s you, you that I want,” and eventually launching into soulful vocal territory on a tune that wouldn’t have been out of place on Chills And Fever.
But there’s helpless heat for each other too, as on 'Flooded Love', on which they recall “We knew the levee was gonna break, so we did it again for old time’s sake”.  It's all rumbling bass, snapping drums and low-slung ‘Peter Gunn’ riffing as Dayton and Fish go at it together on vocals, the flood a metaphor as “Feeling reckless, we both explode”.  The tension rises until the dam busts open musically and the bridge comes tumbling out in a maelstrom of guitar, before they pound their way to another, er, climax.  It’s love and hate o’course, as they taunt each other on the rattling rockabilly of ‘Lover On The Side’ that “You ain’t my woman,” and “You damn sure ain’t my man”.  It’s a conversational duet, full of prickly guitar culminating in an itchy’n’scratchy solo and a bridge in which the pair of ‘em get, shall we say, a bit overheated.  Meanwhile ‘RIppin’ And Runnin’’ builds slowly through an acoustic blues picking intro, booming kick drum and pulsing bass, with Fish breathily demanding “Come on baby, why don’t you do something for me?”  We’re talking steamy provocation over grimy guitar and quirky keyboard vibrations, clambering its way to a barbed-wire guitar solo.
Yessir, these are, like the song says, ‘Dangerous People’.  “Trust me,” Fish drawls over junkyard percussion, “a crook knows another crook”, en route to a big, catchy chorus proclaiming “We’re dangerous, don’t play with us, unless you wanna get busted”.  And if that trails off a bit inconclusively, it’s only to make way for the high-octane party animal of ‘Supadupabad’, a two-minute rollercoaster ride of a familiar-sounding juddering riff laced with needling guitar and squiggling keys in the background, while Dayton makes chuckling, basso profundo conversation about “drinking Courvoisier from a crystal cup”.
There’s other good stuff along the way that maybe doesn't fit the imaginary film noir script, like ‘Down In The Mud’, which opens with a lurching chorus before diverting into the pulsating funkiness of its verses, with distorted spoken interventions from Dayton and some bristling guitar breaks.  And there’s ‘Settle For Less’, a pithy “no half measures” commentary with tick-tock percussion and a needling vocal from Fish, added to an explosive rocking chorus and some wiry guitar work.
Finally, there’s what one might consider the epilogue of ‘You Know My Heart’, a ballad that’s firmly in the Fishy waters of ‘Go Home’ and its ilk, a duet with Stonesy strummin’an’pickin’ and a sensitive harmonised chorus.  There’s a key change as it swells romantically towards its end, with Fish adding some trademark soulful vocal remarks over squealing but restrained guitar.

Death Wish Blues is a deceptive album.  You could call it an exercise in garage band alt.blues, or some such.  But with the assistance of producer Jon Spencer there are a lot of twists and turns packed in here – in fact there’s a lot packed into each of these 12 short’n’sharp songs, with the scribbling, doodling keys throwing frequent stabs of funk into the mix.  When you get down to it Death Wish Blues is 21st century rock’n’roll, with Jesse Dayton cast as a leather-clad Link Wray rebel - and hey, they really should work 'Rumble' into their live set - and Samantha Fish as his cigar-box toting femme fatale.  It’s full of personality, which suits Fish, who has often cleaved to character-based songs, and here plays sassy, troubled bad girl types with considerable relish.
I had some doubts about this project, after taking in a rather underwhelming live show by Fish and Dayton last month.  But the album works.  It’s fresh and it’s fun, and invested with some neat story-telling.  Go get some popcorn, and enjoy the ride.
 
Death Wish Blues is released by Rounder Records on 19 May, and can be ordered here.

Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton - Magazzini Generali, Milan, 2 April 2023

To use the old oxymoronic cliché, this show by Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton was a bit of a curate’s egg – good in parts.  This is a very odd thing for me to say about a show involving Sam Fish, but I have my reasons.
For one thing, there’s the matter of unfamiliar material.  This is partly a matter of timing, as the duo’s album Death Wish Blues, doesn’t come out until May, so a handful of songs in this set are unknown quantities.  And while I know Fish’s back catalogue very well indeed, I can’t say the same about Jesse Dayton, so a couple of his songs are new to me too.

Jesse Dayton and Samantha Fish pick their way through the symbolic murk

None of which would necessarily bother me much, if the sound wasn’t so bad.  From where I’m standing during the first half of this show, a few metres from the stage, the mix is terrible.  The drums seem to swamp everything, rendering the keyboards inaudible most of the time, and even worse making it difficult to hear the vocals with any clarity.  Given that Samantha Fish is generally a singer with seriously good diction, the fact that her words are reduced to a blur here is a major disappointment.  It's bad enough when the subtlety of her well-known cover of ‘Hello Stranger’ is completely overpowered by the clattering drums, but it’s ruinous on a previously unheard song like the soulful ‘No Apology’, where what Fish is singing about is anyone’s guess.
And just as the audio is a problem, so is the visual, because the lighting is unhelpfully hyperactive.  Magazzini Generali is a venue given over more to club nights than gigs, and it seems the in-house lighting guy isn’t too fussed about adjusting the light show for the latter.   So we’re subjected to a whirling display, and an occasional fug of smoke, that generally do more to obscure the band than illuminate them.
All the same, there’s entertainment to be had in the course of the night.  The rock’n’roll intent is clear when they open with ‘Brand New Cadillac’, and they give Junior Parker’s ‘Feel So Good’ a decent thrashing, while there’s also a grinding purpose to the “get no more than you deserve” counsel of ‘Settle For Less’.  Fish straps on her cigar box to knock out the reliably punchy ‘Bulletproof’, but for me a better choice in this show would be for them to drag the gutsy, tub-thumping duet of ‘Go To Hell’ out from the depths of her closet. 
Dayton’s brief and strutting ‘Hurtin’ Behind The Pine Curtain’ has a satisfyingly heavy, heavy monster sound, and there’s a funkier feel to new song ‘Trauma’, with its Zeppelin-like bridge.  But it’s the acoustic double-header of Townes Van Zandt’s ‘I’ll Be Here In The Morning’ and

It's a hard dollar, but they just can't let it go.

Dayton’s ‘Baby’s Long Gone’ that really starts to turn the set around, allowing the duo to show their subtlety, as the band take a break and there’s respite from the overweight mix.  The former tune features a neatly Hispanic solo from JD, while the latter is a coruscating acoustic blues on which Fish delivers a lovely solo of her own.
It also helps that shortly afterwards I retreat to stand by the sound desk, where the mix seems – as you’d hope, fer cryin’ out loud - less lop-sided.  And this coincides with them embarking on a run of covers with which familiarity breeds contentment.  ‘Shake Your Hips’ features another characterful Dayton solo, and then they segue into ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’, producing some walloping fun.
They slow things down for ‘I Put A Spell On You’, on which Samantha conjures up a ghostly solo to go with her slinky (and thankfully intelligible) vocal, before bringing it to a head with a howling guitar foray, laying the foundations for a driving, punkish rendition of Love’s ‘Seven And Seven Is’, which they dial back for a tasty display of interlinked guitar work.

The set proper then closes with new single ‘Riders’, on which the keys finally surface to offer some throbbing clavinet as the pair let rip vocally about how the road is in their blood - a "hard dollar" that they just can't let go.  And they encore with new song ‘Know My Heart’, which sounds like it might have legs, but which is outdone by the solidly rocking blues of ‘Going Down South’.
All in all this wasn’t a show on which to judge just how well the talents of Jesse Dayton and Samantha Fish blend, and add up to something extra.  It was a gig in which the pairing fought an unhelpful setting, and won on points.  If I see ‘em again later in the year, I hope it’s in more sympathetic surroundings.

Quickies - Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton, The Commoners, and Selina and the Howlin' Dogs

The latest Quickies round-up brings together three different brands of blues'n'roots under one roof, with some rock'n'roll, some Southern rock, and some British blues-based rock.

 
Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton – The Stardust Sessions
 
Ever the moving target, Samantha Fish recently announced that she was getting together with Texan guitarist and singer Jesse Dayton, an outlaw-country-meets-punk-rock kinda guy,  for a bundle of US dates and an album of originals titled Death Wish Blues, produced by Jon Spencer and due out in the Spring.  And to seal the deal the pair then rush released this 3-track EP on 2 December.
Writing together the duo apparently “envisioned a sound that married the explosive blues with

Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton, not necessarily in that order

Pic by Skyler Smith

alt-rock”.  Well, whatever that may sound like, this collection of three covers is two parts rock’n’roll, and one part Americana.
‘Brand New Cadillac’ was originally released by British rock’n’roller Vince Taylor and His Playboys in 1959, and famously covered by The Clash 20 years later.  Hell’s bells, that was 43 years ago!  Whatever, the SF-JD take is an adrenaline blast, jaggedly banging out the ‘Peter Gunn’-like riff, while Fish and Dayton compete and interact with breathless vocals and some suitably scratchy guitar breaks.  Then they double down with a souped-up version of Magic Sam’s ‘Feelin’ Good’ (aka ‘I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)’).  Dayton leads on the street-talking conversational vocal, getting into some vocal and guitar call and response and trading stinging licks with Fish.  These two tracks are, essentially, a hoot.
‘I’ll Be Here In The Morning’ is a whole different kettle of potatoes, although counterpointing slam-dunk rock’n’roll and acoustic sensitivity is a formula that will be familiar to Samantha Fish fans.  Indeed this cover of a tender Townes Van Zandt song would have fitted very snugly onto her Belle Of The West album.  Acoustic picking and strumming is the basis for some delicate Fish singing, and low-down country-ish vocals from Dayton, with some mandolin-like trilling guitar providing a minor diversion along the way.   Evidently Fish and Dayton are ready to be romantic as well rambunctious.
 
The Stardust Sessions is out now as a digital-only release, available here.
 
 
The Commoners – Find A Better Way
 
“The Black Crowes are a considerable influence for us,” says Commoners vocalist and guitarist Chris Medhurst.  This, I think, is an understatement.   I mean, I like the Black Crowes, got a few of their albums and everything.  But listening to Find A Better Way I’d infer that the Commoners positively adore the Crowes.

The Commoners try to find a better way out in the country

‘Find A Better Way’ itself sets the scene, kicking off with a big, ringing riff, reinforced by a blast of organ, before Medhurst embarks on an impressively raunchy vocal – a vocal that channels Chris Robinson to a quite bonkers degree.  Gotta say though, it’s a really strong song, with a powerful hook rammed home by the backing vocals, while guitars power along and the guesting Jeff Heisholt adds a gutsy organ solo.  The following ‘Fill My Cup’ starts off with another surging riff over hammering drums from Adam Cannon (yes, really), before chilling out for the first verse, suggesting more light and shade may be in the offing.  And maybe a smidgen more dynamics are evident, but that’s soon overcome by another anthemic chorus, with darn near choral backing vocals, and slide guitar flitting in and out courtesy of Ross Citrullo.
There’s plenty more of this densely arranged sound to follow.  ‘More Than Mistakes’ features a stomping backbeat and Citrullo’s guitar melding with waves of organ, plus a guitar solo that starts with a nod to Hendrix’s ‘Third Stone From The Sun’, while ‘Too Much’ opens with a scudding rollercoaster of a riff, and Medhurst’s vocals get going in a lower, less plaintive pitch.  Even when they start off slow on ‘Naturally’ though, with just acoustic and sparse electric guitar, and a cooler vocal from Medhurst, things end up getting very intense.
‘I Won’t’ leans towards country rock, and brings with it pedal steel courtesy of fellow Canadian Michael Eckert that really isn’t my bag.  This isn’t Eckert’s fault, it's purely a matter of personal taste.  ‘Hangin’ On Again’ reaches for the epic, starting slowish with serpentine slide guitar and more restrained vocals over soulful organ from Miles Evan Branagh, and features tasteful slide guitar wrapping itself around the vocal.  Inevitably Medhurst ends up getting all worked up, and Citrullo breaks out a very Southern slide solo, but there’s more subtlety at work here than elsewhere.
There will be Southern rock fans who love Find A Better Way from first to last, and good luck to 'em.  But while I enjoyed particular songs, I could do with The Commoners being a bit less relentless over the span of an album, and a bit less in thrall to their inspirations too.
 
Find A Better Way is out now on Gypsy Soul Records. 
 
 
Selina and the Howlin’ Dogs – Blues Revisited
 
I love it when a plan comes together, and on songs like ‘On The Line’ and ‘I Still Want More’ Reading-based Selina and the Howlin’ Dogs join the dots to show what they can do.
‘On The Line’ kicks off with a catchy combination of chiming guitar work and bubbling bass, over a rolling, offbeat rhythm, engaging the butt as well as the ear, while singer Selina Arch is supported by some handy backing vocals on a satisfying melody.  The Dogs have aspirations to

Selina and the Howlin' Dogs go for the gritty urban look

add hip-hop to the mix at times too, and here the rap element delivered by bassist Mark Peace fits into the skipping rhythm nicely.  The closing ‘I Still Want More’ kicks off with brisk stop-time guitar chords over a fast clip rhythm, setting up an appealing power-pop vibe.  It’s the basis for Arch to rattle out a simple verse, and a chorus that comes with a useful hook attached, while guitarist Alan Burgin knocks out a tasty solo worthy of a Pretenders hit.
Other good moments include ‘The Way Things Are’, with its fuzzy, low slung, if somewhat familiar sounding rock riff.  It has another likeable chorus, and Burgin offers up a spiky but all too brief guitar break.  ‘Never Get Over You’ opens up with an urgent, tumbling riff over clattering drums, before cooling off into the semi-funky verse, and Burgin produces a nicely melodic guitar solo over the swinging rhythm section of Peace and drummer Tobias Andersson, who clearly have some jazz chops between them.  
There are plenty of interesting things to catch the ear over the course of 13 tracks.  ‘Please Me Now’ comes with an edgy if under-powered guitar riff, and Arch injects personality into the Blondie-like chorus, but it could do with something punchier than Burgin’s rather sedate, jazzy solo.  And ‘Get Up’ suggests some tasteful soul-jazz capability, with Peace and Andersson syncopating nicely in the run-up to a rippling Burgin solo, and Arch making with the required slinkiness.
Things could be better in several respects though.  The mix feels thin, making the band sound tame and leaving Arch’s somewhat reedy voice unhelpfully exposed until the moments when double-tracking produces more depth.  Stylistically meanwhile, they’re scattergun; blues fused with elements of rock, funk and hip-hop may be their aim, and they do all of that with varying degrees of success, but from a songwriting perspective they pack the most punch when they’re in power pop territory.
There’s a bundle of musical talent circulating within Selena and the Howlin’ Dogs.  But they need more focus, and some sympathetic production, to give that talent direction and make it count.
 
Blues Revisited is out now, and can be ordered here.