Such is the all-conquering nature of blues-rock, it’s something of a relief these days when you come across a band that are not just blindly following the ‘death by a thousand guitar solos’ diktat.
With a cellist (‘The Duchess’) playing the bass and a harmonica front and centre, this is the blues as it used to be./o:p
The album’s two covers — Tommy Johnson’s Big Road Blues and Willie Dixon’s Back Door Man — are on the money, with Poplar’s growling voice and Dan Collins’ wailing harmonica sharing centre stage. They rock the joint on Swamp Thing, which is one of the standout original tracks and has a slide guitar riff, but the emphasis here is on traditional blues, rather than flashy histrionics.
It might be a debut album, but the band sound tight and up for the long haul, as any self-respecting act should be./o:p
