The Boonevilles - Good Suites and Fightin' Boots

The Bonnevilles
Good Suites and Fightin' Boots
Motor Sounds Records

The greasy gutter blues of the Boonevilles drives bold and assertive like a ’69 GTO. With the whiskey-drenched souls of crossroad blues men and the bruised knuckles of guitar beating thugs, the thunderous pair of Andrew McGibbon Jr. and Chris McMullan brings to life songs that bleed motor oil and sweat gasoline.

Like the blues duos of legend these boys play their music like the Devil is breathing down their necks. The strut of McGibbon’s gain heavy guitar has a diverse range of personalities. In the tune “Asylum Seekers of Love” the guitar has a wild nature that’s as aggressive and unpredictable as a barroom brawl. While the six-string persona of “No Government, No Country, No King” is meticulous and haunting as a murder’s footstep on your grave. Complementing the raw guitar work is McMullan’s beats, delivered with the lean exactness of a street fighter and the stopping force of a .45 caliber. Topped with the dirty wail of McGibbon’s vocals, the music of The Boonevilles’ is one smoky juke joint away from rocking blues heaven.

The album “Good Suites and Fightin’ Boots” is revved up and humping to eat up the white line and asphalt of any road you that you put in front of it. With a full tak of the sexiest garage blues I’ve heard in a long time, this CD is meant for dirty fighting, hard drinking, fast driving and a few other things that raise a good sweat.

The Ettes - Do You Want Power.

The Ettes

Do You Want Power

Take Root Records

The Ettes latest album captures a band that has matured and found a rock solid confidence in their personal identity. They are a band sure enough of themselves, to take bold musical chances, thus demonstrating greater range and diversity then previous albums. Do You Want Power is a case for evolution strong enough to give Darwin wood.

No fear though, tracks like “Red In Tooth and Claw” and “It Can’t Be True” still hold the fuzztastic rambunctiousness, synonymous with this gypsy trio. Grabbing hold of you like a mugger in the night there is a new darkness to these songs driven by the lovely distortion of Coco’s guitar. While the groove of Jem’s bass and Poni’s dervish drum attack fuels a forceful stampede of sound with the weight and power of a drunken rhino. Long time fans will find more than enough of the bands familiar energy to make them happy and might be surprised by the artistic stretches the band has taken. Stretches as subtle as the dark side static blues of “Walk Out That Door” or bold as the unlikely country twang of “While Your Girl’s Away.”

A wonderful album Do You Want Power hints at a growing greatness and has secured The Ettes among one of my new favorites bands. I look forward to seeing them grow stronger and bolder in the years to come.

"We ain't nobody's darlings/ we never should've made it this far" Nobody's Darlings - Lucero"

Sunday night was the Grammy's and to say that it's a celebration of modern music is like saying to take a dump is a port-a-potty is a celebration of modern plumbing. I admit I didn't watch much as I couldn't stomach the audacity of it all, but I carried away 2 things from the little I did see.

1)Green Day on Broadway? Really? It's official then, the band should be formally stripped of their long dead punk mantel and their Cd's refiled under show-tuns.

2)Sir Elton John is a whore. It's not bad enough that you bastardize your own song to honor someone you supposedly cared for greatly but now you'll sing with anyone for the price of stage time at the Grammy's. I wasn 't even born and I miss the Elton of the late 60's early 70's.

I think the Gammy's bother me so much because it epitomizes how dysfunctional the industry of big label music is. Incestuous in nature and empty of substance the awards are merely an act of masturbation. The big name labels celebrating their success in an industry they manipulate through bribery and monopolization and thus further shadowing the struggle of independent music.

While all those celebrities sit listening to bad jokes and applauding the mediocre winners their are bands bleeding and starving to make music a hundred times better. The price of the ceremony alone could fund the recording and completion costs of over a thousand independent records or provide well needed Health care for a hundred artists. A single statuette could cover the cost of gas or lodging for a 4 state tour. More important though if you started giving the Grammy's to artist that actually earn them , say Katie Herzig, Lucero, Kleveland, and The Hard Lessons, maybe bands like U2 and Taylor Swift might make an album worth listening to.

But enough of my ranting. It's already gotten me in trouble with my 81/2 year-old daughter who is a an avid Swift fan.

As for the goals. I'll be posting my first review shortly and am actively reaching out to bands to obtain materials for review. I'm hoping to review the latest albums from Sex Slaves out of New York and local favorites The Builders and the Butchers new live recording.