Album Review: Back In Blue - A Blues Tribute to AC/DC

A blues tribute to a classic Australian Rock album... an interesting idea? I certainly thought so.
With a list of players of this caliber this album was guaranteed to be good, but this is beyond just good it’s great. Of course, when listening to these reinterpretations of AC/DC’s classic Back In Black album you will almost certainly be comparing them to the original recordings released all those years ago and which have now surpassed the 20 Million mark in sales which begs the obvious question of "do these reinvented recordings live up to the originals?" Truth be told, I couldn’t tell you as I don’t think I have ever listened to Back In Black in full! (yes you read that right) What I do know, is that there are some absolute gems on this release.
Here’s is my track by track musings of the release, read on if you choose or base your to buy to not to buy verdict on my above paragraph.
Kicking off proceeding is local blues guitar hero Geoff Achison with Jane Michelle on Vocals playing a bluesy ballady version of the rocker Hells Bells. The song starts off with snippets of news stories regarding the death of Bon Scott which automatically gives you a feel for just how big a story this was back in the day. Geoff’s slide playing is of course great and Jane’s Voice is a hell of a powerful weapon but somehow this version seems to fall ever so slightly flat somehow. 
Things pick up from here with the Blues swagger of Shoot to Thrill, then it’s onto track 3 What You Do For Money Honey featuring the Vocal styling of Janis Joplin clone Gail Page with Jan Rynsaardt of The Arc Riders on Guitar. One of the highlights of the album the overdriven slide guitar together with Gail’s scratchy Vocals prove yet again that while "super producers" slave over layer upon layer of overdubs and trying to make everything sound as polished as possible sometimes all you need is one Guitar and a Singer and a stomping Blues tune to make people sit up and take notice.
Given The Dog a Bone gets a ZZ Top - La Grange style treatment with a somewhat strange Rap breakdown, Let Me Put My Love In You as performed by Shaun Kirk becomes a broody pine with a somewhat Love Ain’t No Stranger by Whitesnake feel to it.
Lachy Doley is up next once again using his croaky drawl to full effect on Back In Black on a stomping pedal to the metal version which is less blues and more rock minus the guitars but with some great Deep Purple-esque sounding fuzzed up Hammond Organ grooves and even an Organ solo. (Check out his live shows if you haven’t already people you won’t be disappointed).
If you have ever heard Sarah McLeod of The Superjesus perform her acoustic ballady version of You Shook Me All Night Long you might know roughly what to expect of 8 Ball Aitken’s interpretation of the song also. But while there are certain similarities between the 2 interpretations 8 Ball most definitely cranks the Blues factor up to 11 with another yearning type vocal delivery (with added ooh’s and ahh’s for effect) and some great reverb laden slide guitar playing. Lachy Doley once again makes an appearance on keys while Vika Bull’s backing vocals lift the tune into the stratosphere.
With only 3 songs to go you find yourself thinking this is too cool I can’t wait to hear what’s next.
Have A Drink On Me is performed brilliantly by Genevieve Chadwick on acoustic guitar, no real re-interpretation here but there’s no need when the riffs work just as well on Acoustic as they do on a Cherry Red Gibson SG.
The rhythm section is where it’s at with Shake A Leg. The only thing to say about this tune is hot damn has it got a groove to it! Complete with Harmonica & Sax solos and outros which I’m still trying to figure out if I like or not (not that they’re badly performed or don’t fit the song per se it’s just that I think I might have preferred to hear that groove run straight through uninterrupted).
Last but most certainly not least (and according to some, leaving the best until last) comes Australian blues royalty with Lloyd Spiegel… It’s Lloyd Spiegel doing AC/DC, that’s all that need be said about this one!  
Once again this is a great idea executed very well. Add to this that all profits from this release will be donated to the Beyond Blue charity who do some great work for helping people suffering from depression as well as providing a better understanding of what depression is for people who perhaps have a “just snap out of it” mentality towards depression and you can’t go wrong.
Find it on Itunes or JB Hi-Fi online

Album Review: The Dead Daisies - Make Some Noise

Relative newcomers on the heavy melodic rock scene The Dead Daisies are just one of the many bands flying the flag for this style of music and they do it very well. Anthemic, fist pumping, head banging arena rock tunes this is a band that knows their audience and delivers exactly what their fans want. Now this might sound to some people like something to be avoided at all costs but in the immortal words of the Rolling Stones "It's only Rock N Roll but I like it". 
I have been following John Corabi's career since his days in the band Union which was formed in partnership with ex-Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick and for my money he is one of the best singers and songwriters in the Hard Rock scene.
Together with songwriting partner David Lowy and the rest of his band mates in The Dead Daisies he has delivered one of the best (if not THE best) rock records of 2016. This album is pedal to the metal driving rock music with choruses that you can't help but sing along to.
The stunt guitar work provided by monster guitarist Doug Aldrich will have you reaching for your air guitar and dusting off your long neglected heavy rock records of yester-year to give them another spin and dream of playing to stadiums full of people singing every word of the songs your playing.
Add to this the rhythm section of Marco Mendoza and Brian Tichy who drive these tunes like an unstoppable freight train or rollercoaster which makes you feel like holding onto your seat for dear life and you have an album that is guaranteed to appeal to rock music fans the world over.
Feel good, middle finger in the air, FTW tunes with a couple of "topical" tunes thrown into the mix (ie. Long Way To Go and Song & A Prayer - which is probably the highlight of the disc for me), sure you could probably nit pick and say it's been done before or the lyrics could have used slightly more polishing but really what will that achieve?
Put this album on turn it up to 11 & rock the hell out!

Album Review: Tequila Mockingbyrd - Fight And Flight

Phwoah, does this album pack a punch or what??!! Having seen this band play a few times in the past I had purchased their debut EP the 1st time I saw them play, so I was very much looking forward to this release.
From the opening riff of the anthemic "I smell rock n roll” to the closing notes of “Good Time” this is feel good boozy rock music as it’s supposed to be played. Rose Tattoo meets The Screaming Jets meets The Baby Animals meets The Superjesus this band has all the right ingredients needed to bring back heavy distorted guitar riffage to the mainstream charts again (and I hope they do!). Full of piss and vinegar this is perfect getting ready for a big Saturday night music designed to be played at maximum volume.

The songs on the aptly titled Fight And Flight are primarily a celebration of the good things in life such as enjoying the weekend with friends but also send out the empowering message of grabbing life by the throat, which we all know but at times forget. The most telling sign of the quality of these tunes is that you will almost certainly be singing each and every chorus of each and every song after only one listen. Slick without being overproduced this is a brilliant debut guaranteed to get this band noticed and will almost certainly put them on the world stage.
                                       
If you’re of an age with the ladies delivering these tunes this album will most certainly strike a chord and if you happen to be past the age of regular Saturday night booze ups this will transport you back to that age.

“Clear the street because we’re coming through, side by side and two by two"

Some April gig highlights

Well as always it's been a great month of gig going in Melbourne town and there's been some doozys! (yes I did just use the word doozys) where to start, where to end, who to include and who to leave out? I am without a doubt going to forget something/someone but here's a short list of the stuff I can remember off the top of my head.

Z-Star Delta
Style: Psychedelic-Acoustic-Blues-Rock
 

Hailing from the UK this duo know how to paint a picture with and take to you on a journey with their storytelling style lyrics. Using loops and effects to build layers of interweaving sounds which help you visualize the images the songs convey this was their 2nd tour of OZ in as many years and I was stoked to finally catch them as I had only seen the flyers for their last tour after the fact. Think of what The Doors might sound like if Jim had a drum kit in front of him while Robby played his bottleneck style blues licks and you might get an idea of what they sound like. Hopefully they will be back sooner rather than later and they will get noticed by much larger audience. Miss them at your peril!

Lachy Doley
Style: Progressive Blues, Rock and Soul

I've lost count of how many times I've seen Lachy doing his thing at Bar 303 in Northcote. There was a bit of a question mark hanging over this show as although Lachy has been doing shows at 303 for around five years or so the last few
shows have been slightly down in attendance so he was pre-selling tickets this time around and had to sell at least 50 of them for the show to go ahead. Thankfully he did and the show did go ahead. He's played with the likes of Jimmy Barnes, Mahalia Barnes, Powderfinger, The Dead Daisies and even former Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes has specifically asked for his services. Playing the only whammy clavinet known to exist in Australia his croaky vocal drawl was used to full effect as always. As many times as I have seen him play he always gives his all and always wins over new fans at the night and this time around was no different. People were lining up at the end of the gig to buy his CD's and to say how much they enjoyed his show. Why he is not playing sold out shows to rooms of a much larger capacity stills boggles the mind.

Backwood Creatures
Style: Jamming Swamp Blues

Wahooooooo what a ride that was! You know a band is good when they are jamming on stage and it all sounds pre-planned. Although all 3 members of the band are smoking hot musicians the highlight for me was Grant Cummerford playing is Bass as if he was the lead guitarist. While it's not unheard of for the bass to be used as a lead instrument I've never seen it played in quite this way before. This may have been my 1st time seeing these guys play but it most certainly won't be the last.

Kumar Shome
Style: Stunt Guitar Instrumentals

Not the 1st time I've seen Kumar play but the 1st time I've caught him playing his own tunes. I'm guessing that Kumar has not heard the saying "the notes you don't play are just as important as the ones you do" because I think he played every note known to man in every combination possible during the 60 or so minutes he was on stage. Now this may sound horrible to some people but as a kid who grew up worshiping the playing of people like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen and their like this was like being transported back 20 years and watching the fingers of these guitar heroes in wide eyed wonder. All this being said make no mistake, even though the guitar wankery factor was turned up to 11 Kumar still knows how to play with feel and know which notes to play and which notes not to. This was by no means a free for all and composition was/is still king in his musical ethos. Special mention also to the 2nd guitarist in the band Mickey Chan who also got to show off his shredding skills.

Well there's just 4 of the many shows I did attend and while I have been on a bit of a blues rock kick as of late I still subscribe to the theory of there are only 2 types of music, good and bad, regardless of what genre label you choose to attach to them. With the Melbourne International Jazz Festival and the Stonnington Jazz Festival just around the corner I imagine the shows I will be talking about in the coming months will be of a different style.

Interview: Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble

Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble took some time to speak about the upcoming shows in Australia and you can listen to the interview here

Live review: Vampillia live @ The Evelyn Hotel - 11 March 2016

"What on earth did I just witness? That didn't really happen, did it? Such a thing couldn't possibly exist in this world can it?!"
This is what I was was asking myself after walking out of the Evelyn Hotel the other day at the end of the show put on by the 10 piece band Vampillia who were visiting our shores from the land of the rising sun. No matter what words I use I doubt there's any way to accurately describe what these guys are all about, I will however do my best.
Describing themselves as a "Brutal Orchestra" this only touches on one facet of what this band does. The music they play has elements of brutal Thrash Metal (never something I've gone out of my way to listen to), Classical, Funk, Opera and many other things besides (including a comedy act to kick off proceedings). I'm not sure how it's possible to effortlessly shift from one of these genres to the other and have it not sound out of place but also perfectly natural yet somehow Vampillia are able to do it.


They only way I can think to describe the unique experience that is listening to music by Vampillia is something like this: Image you're taking a nice little boat ride on calm crystal blue ocean waters, enjoying the sun on your face, the cloudless blue skies and the soft bobbing of your little boat on the tiny little waves as said waves lap against the bow. You suddenly hear the boom of thunder not too far off so look up to the sky and see black storm clouds rolling in at a rapid pace. Frantically you try to turn your boat around to try head back to shore knowing full well that you'll never make it in time but damned if your not gonna try! the waves slowly get bigger and bigger and before long the storm is upon you tossing you around like a rag doll. You hang on for dear life hoping the storm will pass over soon (is that a patch of blue sky you spot just behind the black clouds?) thankfully the storm does quickly pass and your boat is left bobbing on the water again (albeit at a much funkier pace) and your heart rate has gone up by something like 100 BPM. "Well that wasn't so bad after all" you think to yourself, so you check the what the weather is supposed to be like for the rest the day and see the forecast is for clear skies and only a slight breeze "Might as well head back out" you think to yourself "Maybe I'll even drop a line into the water and see if I can catch my dinner". So back out into the water you head to do exactly that. You find what looks like the perfect spot amidst a school of fish, drop anchor, cast your line and all is well with the world again. "Huh...? That wasn't thunder I just heard was it...?" You look up to the sky... "Ah shit!"
When the ordeal is finally all over and you have both feet back on solid ground you start to head back home thinking "I never want to go through anything like that ever again" straight after which you say to yourself "I wonder what the weather is going to be like tomorrow?"
If this description sheds no light for you well then you can simply click here to listen back to Vampillia's live performance on PBS FM here in Melbourne.
Thanks to Chris Pearson host of Pojama People for putting me onto this band. And while I doubt you will hear Vampillia played on the Connections show anytime soon I still highly recommend catching them next time they are in the magical land of OZ just to see what they are all about. Credit also to all the opening acts
Hotel Wrecking City Traders, Ruins Alone and co-headliners Laura  who also put on a great show.

Album Review: Legs Electric - Legs Electric

Wow... just... wow... When I was in my teens it seemed there was a plethora of melodic heavy rock bands on the radio but as the years moved on, grunge took over and then (mainstream) radio decided that rock music was no longer cool and stopped playing it. Well, just because this style of music has stopped being played on the radio that doesn't mean that there aren't great bands around playing this style of music, you just have to dig a little deeper than what you used to. Legs Electric are just one of the many Australian bands keeping the rock alive.
Hailing from Perth, prepare to be blown away by the sheer power these ladies deliver. Heavy riffs abound on their debut 5 track EP fittingly titled Maximum Rock n Roll but while you can expect to hear heavy riffs, distorted guitars and big guitar solos, make no mistake, the emphasis is most definitely on melody! Names like KISS, Pat Benatar, Vixen, Harem Scarem and others come to mind. From start to finish this EP is a rollicking ride with catchy anthemic choruses just like you used to hear coming through your radio speakers all those years ago. The highest compliment I can pay this band is that as soon as I finished listening to the 5 songs they have to offer, I automatically wanted to listed to them again... so I happily did exactly that, and was even about to hit the play button a 3rd time.
If this is any indication of what we can expect to hear from these ladies in the future, then I am very much looking forward to seeing what they come up with next. If only I hadn't discovered them on the last day of their east coast visit. Please hurry back girls, if the songs sound this powerful on record I can't wait to hear what they sound like live!

Album Reviw: Dana Fuchs - Broken Down Acoustic Sessions

So I just discovered this awesome singer that's new on the scene and I just had to tell the world how awesome she is. Her name is Dana Fuchs... what's that...? she's not new...? OK, well she's kinda new... What's that you say...? She released her 1st album in 2003? Well why didn't somebody tell me about her before dammit?!
OK I admit it, I dropped the ball on this one. Dana has been around for a while now and her name will probably be familiar to many but once again for me it was a case of, "I'll get around to it when I have the time" and then never did. Just recently her name popped up again with the release of her latest album Broken Down Acoustic Sessions so I figured I'd finally see what she was all about. As the title of the album suggests these songs are acoustic interpretations of songs which appear on some of her previous releases plus some extra's.
Dana has a voice that is instantly recognisable, a gravelly rasp that will almost immediately draw comparisons to Janis Joplin. In fact, Dana has actually played Janis in a stage production Love, Janis and you can see why she would have been chosen do to so, given that at times you can almost be mistaken that you are listening to Janis herself. While the comparisons are justified, make no mistake, Dana is not to be simply dismissed as just another Janis clone. She owns these songs and sings with feel and emotion that draws you in and makes you listen intently to what she is delivering. Mixing blues, soul and pop with a slight hint of country this album is perfect lazy, rainy day listening. Primarily made up of ballads and mid-tempo tunes this is not an album that you will be turning up to 11 so as to piss off the neighbours, but damned if it isn't a toe tapper, a tear jerker and well, just an awesome album all round.
Having released her last 4 albums on the German label Ruf who also have/had Samantha Fish, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Devon Allman and many other modern blues artists on their roster, this should give you an idea what to expect. In short this yet another quality blues release from a brilliant artist that should be getting a hell of a lot more attention than what she is.
If you have not heard Dana Fuchs before, this is a damn good place to start.

Album Review: Thunder - Wonder Days

2015 release Wonder Days by rockers, Thunder

Ever come across a release that just completely changes your life and lifts the musical bar to a whole other level? Well if this is what you want to hear, then I would recommend looking elsewhere because you won't find it here. What? Huh? What's the point of this review? I hear you asking! Bear with me on this one and you'll see where I'm going.
Is this an earth shattering, ground breaking release that will forever change the face of music and which will be remembered for years to come? Well OK no it probably won't be BUT if you are looking for an album of rocking tunes that you can sing along to and which will transport you back to when you were a teenager singing into a hair brush or playing air guitar with a tennis racquet in front of your bedroom mirror (which is exactly what this album aims to do) then this release is for you.
The opening lines of the title track with which the album begins are "First day of school they called me a disgrace, They didn't like the long hair" which should give you an idea of what to expect
Thunder have been releasing albums since the early 90's however this is the 1st of their albums I have heard. The riffs are big, the choruses are just as big and the guitar solos are showy without being over the top (no unnecessary Yngwie Malmsteen style wankery to be heard.)
There's the obligatory ballads to break up the pace of the album the 1st one "The Rain" coming just 3 songs into the album is a great little acoustic ditty with added piano and mandolin giving it a distinctly Led Zeppelin feel before picking up again with Black Water a song about a "respectable wife" who's looking for some excitement in her life and decides to run away with a "streetwise seventeen" year old (now that's deep!).
If you are familiar with Thunder you will probably know exactly what you can expect from this release and if you are not familiar with Thunder, well... you will probably still know exactly what to expect from this release. This is rock music for the here and now with no thought of how long it will last which is perfectly fine.
Thunder have achieved exactly what they set out to do with this release which is to deliver footstomping, fist pumping, arena rock. If this is your thing then this is a highly recommended release. You can check their discography to date here in the meantime I'm off to track down some of these said releases.
P.S. if you listen to this and you like what you hear I also highly recommend tracking down the albums by The Union which is guitarist Luke Morley's other band and how I came to discover these guys.

Top 5 new musical discoveries of 2015

This will be my last end of year list I promise! This one is of artists that either didn't release new music in 2015 so do not appear in my Top 10 full length releases of 2015 list or maybe they did but it wasn't a "full length" release. They may be quite new or have been around for a while but somehow escaped my notice until this year.

 

I caught John McNamara playing earlier this year when I got to ride The Blues Train (review available here) and all I can say is hot damn this dude is awesome! If you are going to get up on a stage with just an acoustic guitar and nothing else you better be damn good otherwise you will lose me very quickly. Well I can tell you he was DAMN good and that I've been itching to catch him playing again ever since but haven't had the chance just yet.
His album Alone With The Blues released in mid 2014 is an absolute must have not just for blues fans but for fans of good music in general.

Well hot diggity (again) chanced upon this band playing at The Catfish sometime in 2015 and just had to grab myself a copy of their debut EP Shake It Up. A perfect mix of Blues and Soulful Funkiness and with a voice that will give you whiplash if you have your back turned to the stage when you hear it.

Big thanks to everyone's favourite PBS Scotsman Chris Pearson host of Pojama People for putting me onto these guys. Child provide us more heavy stoner rock riffage the way it's meant to be done. From start to finish this album is all killer no filler and the artwork from Nick Keller (especially when seen on a Vinyl LP size) is nothing short of stunning!
Now that they have finally released the Vinyl version of the album after selling out of CD's it's time to bring us some new music







Banda Magda is a band I found out about very recently when planning the Snarky Puppy episode of the Connections show. Magda Giannikou sang on the Family Dinner album from 2013 which featured a different Vocalist on each song. The Banda Magda project oozes sparkly tongue in cheek fun. Sung primarily in French the music ranges from Latin, to Swing Jazz, to Chanson and some things in between. This music sounds like it could have been lifted from the soundtrack to any of the "Golden Era of Hollywood" movies which is just one more reason to love it.
Very much looking forward to album no. 3 due out in 109 days (and counting) time according to the pledge music campaign.

So I had turned up to Huey Long's Bar on Smith St. Collingwood to catch Adam Rudegeair doing his New Orleans piano thing only to find it was instead someone by the name of Jules Boult who was there instead which was slightly disappointing as Adam is really good. After the initial disappointment  I quickly realised that Jules was just as good, I left the venue slightly poorer (money wise anyway) after purchasing the 3 CD's Jules had to offer but much richer in the soul and with a big grin on my face. Listen to his music here