'Close To The Floor' is PATRICK SWEANY'S sixth full length album, and this Nashville based bluesman has hit gold with this CD.
Some of the songs are personal, and relate in part to a double tragedy that befell his immediate family. Patrick states that the album is “dealing with grief, loss, and its aftermath”. That said, the album is far from depressing, and Patrick possesses one of the best blues hollers that I've heard for a while. In fact, certain comparisons could be made with Patrick's vocal style, and that of John Fogerty, both are possessed with a rich voice, excellent lyrics and some killer tunes.
Opening with 'Working For You', a heavy blues number that features some New Oleans influences, Patrick starts as he means to go on: - “ I'm ashamed of my life, Cause my wife's gotta keep that jar/ I should be in an office hatin' life and drinking coffee/ Instead I'm starring out at my yard.”
Patrick however really hits the mark with 'Every Night Every Day' a song dripping with angst and frustration at being trapped in a low paid job, working for the man, with nothing to show for it: -
“Every night, every day, wonder how we barely get by/ Every night, every day, wonder how we barely get by/ Work like a dog, wonder why we even try/ Many hours, little pay, frustrates a man in his mind/ Many hours, little pay, frustrates a man in his mind/ Lost in the jungle, doin' anything to survive.” This is a brilliantly gritty slow blues which is arguably the best track on the album.
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'Bus Station' is another high point, a country blues track, which in parts reminded me of Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Lodi'. It's a song that you can listen to and never tire of: - “Bus station is the loneliest place in the world/ It's a place where you go, tear stains on your shirt/ It's always downtown or out on the 'skirts/ Bus station is the loneliest place in the world.”
Overall, I thought that this was a great album, certainly on the strength of this, I'll be looking out for some of his earlier work. This is an album that will easily appeal to both blues fans, and music fans in general.
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