Fathippy (label)
16 May 2010 (released)
22 May 2010
Thirty years in is a long career to lead up to a debut album so you would hope that the band are happy with it. They certainly should be because this is a very good bit of electric Blues and you have to ask why no-on has recorded this guy before?
The album kicks off with a raw and powerful piece in ‘Breaking The Stones’ – a bit of slide noodling leading in to some kickass funky Blues with the guitar to the fore – definitely a Gibson sort of sound and ably matched by Grigor Leslie & David Innes on bass & drums and some fine harmonica courtesy of Peter Narojczyk. This ain’t your normal bedroom recording project, these guys can play!
‘Black Rain’ is a moody Texas style Blues and ‘Two Time Lover’ is a jaunty and raunchy piece of bar-room howl featuring a great harmonica lead – the band might have Gerry Jablonski’s name at its head but this is a real band performance.
It isn’t perfect; ‘Love’ is a little dated and Jablonski’s vocals can sometimes sound like Paul Macartney with a cold but his guitar playing makes up for any other shortcomings and numbers such as ‘Blues Power’ sound as though they are just made to be played live.
I found the album really easy to listen to, and some of the tracks such as ‘Crime Of The Century’ and ‘Every Dog Has Its Day’ will get ‘iPodded’ and on to my regular listening roster simply because they are good music.
Worth the wait!
