BLUES CUT LIKE GLASS Matt “The Rattlesnake” Lesch (independent) ****
If you have a taste for old school blues guitar heroes, Matt Lesch is your guy. His latest, Blues Cuts Like Glass, reveals his depth as a songwriter and arranger, particularly when it comes to the zesty horn charts. His guitar playing is stinging and articulate, the rhythms right in the pocket and the production by Paul Niehaus IV is clean… this is one you can sink your teeth into.
Matt learned guitar at 11 and started studying the blues masters at 12; Albert & BB King, Freddie of course, Buddy Guy, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. You can hear the history of blues in his hands and his voice too, and he’s had some rather stunning help in the studio from guys like Michael Burks’ rhythm section plus players who have worked with Buddy Miles, Albert King, SRV and Johnnie Johnson, all players that hear and recognize the truth in Matt Lesch’s blues. You can’t fake that, kids.
As a singer Matt reminds me a lot of Colin James, and his solos over some impressive rhythm work are rather exciting. Whereas a player like Stevie was loud and aggressive (he once admitted to not having a lot of finesse and that his playing “sounded like he was breaking out of jail”), The Rattlesnake takes it right to the edge in a different way. You get the impression that he’s totally in control at all times, and I can hear a lot of Freddie and Albert King in his phrasing and choice of notes. The snazzy horn charts are a welcome kick in the pants as they bring an extra dimension to the music. Blues Cut Like Glass is blues you can use all day long.
HOT TRACKS: Blues Cut Like Glass, Feel So Good, I’m So Tired
PASSION & REGRETS Sunny Bleau & The Moons (Endless Blues Records) ****+
There’s a certain something you need to have to be a chick blues singer, to be believable, and Sunny Bleau (Kelly Brock) has it in spades. There’s passion and fire in her voice, genuine blues swagger, and the band ain’t too shabby either. Passion & Regrets has the intensity you’d expect from a title like that, and a disc like this makes me glad my writing retirement was brief.
Sunny writes and performs with guitarist Nic Cocco, and P&R was produced by bluesman extraordinaire Mick Kolassa, who brought in a team of musicians he likes to work with, calling them ‘the usual suspects’. That includes drummer James Cunningham, bassist Bill Ruffino, Rick Steff on keys, plus extra licks from guitarist Jeff Jensen. Sunny & Nic also invited young harp player Kiersi Joli and their buddy Dr. Peter Stephenson to come along for the ride. The album is gritty without necessarily being dirty, kind of smooth too (like one of Kolassa’s records) and you can hear the gleam in Sunny’s eye when she sings a number like You Better Put The Coffee On
This disc is a fun listen without trying too hard to entertain, and including a cover of Why Don’t You Do Right is a cool surprise.. If you’ve ever seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit it’s the song Jessica Rabbit sings in the nightclub scene. Passion & Regrets isn’t a Friday night roadhouse let’s-turn-this-dump over kind of disc… by and large it’s more of a sultry late night listen sort of thing, what you might put on when there’s love in your eyes and a lump in your pants. Fine musicianship, excellent production and one hell of a blues belter at the mic make Passion & Regret a stirring, sublime and emotional experience you’ll want to repeat often.
HOT TRACKS: Low-Down-Middle-Aged-Blues, You Better Put The Coffee On, Why Don’t You Do Right?
YOU CAN’T TELL ME I’M NOT WHAT I USED TO BE Massy Ferguson (North & Left Records) *** ½
Not many bands have straddled the country/ rock genre this well since Eagles or, in Canada where I live, Blue Rodeo. You Can’t Tell Me I’m Not What I Used To Be is Massy Ferguson’s 7th album in a career that has stretched over the better part of two decades, and the presser calls it ”the band’s cinematic version of rootsy American music”, and that hits the nail on the head.
The laconic and atmospheric feel of the music on You Can’t Tell Me… has a sort of Cowboy Junkies feel to it, relaxed in a Stones-y way but not lazy and with literate lyrics. The album was produced by Damien Jurado, a folksinger celebrated for his craft as much as his unpredictability, an attraction to the guys in MF I’m sure. The disc as a real vintage feel to it, a retro chic, owing as much to the gear used and analog production as much as the players themselves. It sounds like a throwback for sure, almost lo-fi, but that’s part of its unpretentious charm.
Of course the real star on a record like You Can’t Tell Me is the songwriting, gritty tales with emotional honesty that have a sort of vintage Steve Earl feel. Getting in tight with this disc is like being involved in a conversation of uncommon depth. As their website notes, “if (their) previous records unfolded like soundtracks for loud, lively evenings at the bar, then (this one) is a different sort of sonic real estate.” So if you’re already a Massy Ferguson fan, be prepared for a left turn. This album isn’t pretty or shiny, but I’m really digging it.
HOT TRACKS: When You’re Not Around, I’m Almost There, You Were So High
TAKE THE EDGE OFF Travelin’ Blue (Naked) *****
Talk about an album smacking you upside the head, Travelin’ Blue’s new one is just all kinds of excellent. Take The Edge Off has rock muscle and attitude as these 5 talented musicians rely on tradition and a ‘know your classics’ attitude with a pinch of the 70’s, yet it all sounds very 21st century. This is one blues/ rock groove that’s pretty much irresistible.
Starting out as Travelin’ Blue Kings in 2020 Take The Edge Off is their 3rd album. TB’s debut, 2022’s Bending The Rules, got them noticed in Europe and the States in terms of airplay, paving the way for successful tours in France, The Netherlands, Germany and Norway. That roadwork is reflected in the new record in terms of tightness of sound and attitude. The magazine ad promoting the album calls it “21st century blues with a seventies twist”, which is true and it’s also why I responded to it instantaneously. 70’s rock is my thing- those were my teenage years- and the blues is often the music of my heart.
No production notes were included with the download so I don’t know who produced this (Nico De Cock maybe?) but sonically TTEO is one of the better sounding albums you’ll here in any genre. The rhythm section is groovin’ and tight as is the guitar, and when guitar or keys pop up to punctuate a song with some tasty soloing, it’s always spot on- great playing and never too much or not enough. This album is spectacularly well balanced in so many ways.
Take The Edge Off is certainly a blues disc but if someone were to throw it on and call it classic rock record you’d say “yeah, I can definitely hear that.” The guitar first pulled me in but as I became aware of all the other musical elements it became quite obvious that this is something special; it’s really… fucking… good.
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HOT TRACKS: No Gooder, Death Smiles At Us All, After All
BONUS TRACKS & B-SIDES Wasp (Madfish Music) ***
Anytime you see a release like this it’s for the converted. I’ve been aware of Wasp over the years but was never really a fan. Still, Bonus Tracks & B-Sides, a digital release gives us a different peak at the band than we would get from their 16 studio albums- a combination of covers, deep tracks and rarities. It’s typical 80’s/ 90’s hard rock, not unlike early Motley Crue, enjoyable and entertaining.
Production-wise the sound is thin and dry as was typical of the time period, and the songs are simple ham-fisted riff rockers- not a criticism by the way. Wasp are theatrical rockers though I daresay Kiss was much more successful in that area, and it’s safe to say both bands put entertainment value on par with musicality.
If you’re a Wasp fan I can’t say how many of these tunes you might already have in your collection, but their cover of Mountain’s Mississippi Queen is nearly worth the price of admission alone. Other covers on Bonus Tracks include Jethro Tull’s Locomotive Breath, The Stones’ Paint It Black and Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks, numbers on which the band acquits itself nicely. Blackie Lawless’s raspy, scratchy shout is an acquired taste but not incompatible with 80’s metal, and musically, and Wasp is on par with most of their contemporaries.
As Bonus Tracks & B-Sides plays on my stereo I get the nagging feeling that maybe I missed out on some decent rock & roll over the last 40 years. If memory serves I was initially put off by Animal (Fuck like A Beast) ) (included here) thinking they had nothing more than juvenile shock value to offer, and so took a pass on the whole Wasp thing. But as I listen now to songs like Lake Of Fools, their cover of Mississippi Queen or the gleefully adolescent DB Blues, I have to admit that perhaps I was hasty in pre-judging the band- and shame on me for that.
Too late to jump on a Wasp bandwagon now really, but I’m thinking backtracking to one of their compilations might be the thing to do. Bonus Tracks & B-Sides was certainly issued with die-hard fans in mind, but don’t let that stop you from digging a little deeper.
HOT TRACKS: War Cry, Mississippi Queen, Lake Of Fools
NOTHIN’ BUT THE TRUTH Max Hightower (MoMojo Records) *****
Raw, greasy, unfiltered… Max Hightower’s new album is the blues in all its historic glory. Nothin’ But The Truth is all about the groove and the attitude, amongst other things. Recorded at BigTone Studios in New Orleans this is a raw, unfiltered blend of Nola funk and southern blues that you’ll want to hear again and again.
Recording with musicians from The Big Easy brings something different to the party. “You might think you’ve got a song all figured out, but once you hit record with musicians in the heart of New Orleans, it’s like trying to steer a river…. better let go and see where the current takes you,” says Max about the recording sessions. Nothin’ But The Truth has a real vintage sound to it that serves the songs rather well. Max gave the sessions his all, along with a rotating roster of New Orleans guys in real time, the only way to seriously capture a groove. The songs were recorded ‘mistakes and all’, the way Johnny Winter and Muddy Waters did it back in the day… that’s where you find the magic is with a record like this.
Seeing Jimi Hendrix live on TV and wearing out the cassette Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live are what started Hightower off on this blues highway decades ago, along with his grandmother’s old Silvertone guitar. Recording in real time is a good part of what gives Nothin’ But The Truth its mojo, no click tracks or overdubs as a more modern session would dictate- just raw, unfiltered blues. Production by Hightower and studio owner Big Jon Atkinson has given the disc a timeless quality, like it could have come out at any time in the last 60 years. This is the blues with attitude, the New Orleans-style horns giving the numbers extra juice.
Nothin’ But The Truth isn’t shiny or pretty… this is real blues.
HOT TRACKS: Double Bubble, Damned If I Do, Too Much Of Not Enough
