This self-titled CD from Black Bart is a cracking debut. Whilst most of the songs on the album have been in their set for the last few years, they have been able to hone things to perfection and produce a stunningly good CD.
Opener, ‘Broken Like A Mirror’ starts the proceedings as it means to go on, with a high level of musicianship and song writing. This starter comes across as a muscular Country rock classic with some excellent guitar work, and details a breaking relationship: “A teary voice gives me a late-night call/And I’m laying on my bed with my feet tucked in the wall/ And we talk about the way, that we both felt yesterday/ And I wonder sometimes if you ever cared at all.”
Next up is ‘I’m Going To Jail’ which is a fast, rocking electric blues number which has a riff similar to that of The White Stripes’ ‘Let’s Build a Home’, and features some excellent bass and drum work, and tells a tale of a man on the run: “I’m running fast like a train running down the track/ I’m movin’ fast like a train running down the track/ Train got me here and the train won’t take me back.”
This is a great outlaw blues track with the singer (as usual) on the wrong side of the law: -“One more shot then my shooting’s done, killed my friend and he’s only twenty one” and,“Killed a man and now I’m going to jail.” This really is the high watermark of the album.
‘I Believe’ slows things down a bit and is a driving blues number which blends acoustic and electric guitar really well. This one puts me in mind a little bit of The Doors’ ‘Been Down So Long’ and follows classic blues phrasing: - “I believe, I believe my time ain’t long, so many dirges, time to play a happy song.”
‘Town to Town’ is a blues rock number about moving on:“You always work hard, so rest instead. Leave for the city, leave this town for dead.”
‘Reflection’ is another great song, the sort of anthem about life grinding you down: “Scratching the wall as the days go by. Not even worth the tears I cry/ Dress me up in a light blue shirt; I’m trying to keep my head above the dirt.” At this point I was struck by how good the song writing was. The melodies suit the mood and the tone of the lyrics perfectly.
|
‘Don’t Tell Me Anymore’ is another highpoint of the album, being slightly slower starting, an acoustic strum that gradually builds the tension and giving the story of a broken relationship: - “There’s a light on in the window. There’s a man stood in the hall/ I watched you from the grass out by the hill.
Now I see a different you from the one I knew before/ But there’s no use telling me that anymore.”
This is a great piece of storytelling, which, as with all great blues songs ends with a murder and our singer getting sent to jail!
For me there were no duff tracks on this album, although a couple stood well above the rest, and I liked ‘Come Back Home’ which was an excellent loneliness anthem, with lyrical twists not a million miles away from that of Mott The Hoople on ‘Hymn For The Dudes’: “In a hotel a long time ago, two strangers wondering where they’ll go/ They stay together, but they’re on their own.”
‘Song For a Friend’ is another atmospheric track which is carried by the lyrics which tell the story of a friend’s misfortunes and ‘Freedom Blues’ which is an acoustic swing blues that is a refreshing alternative to some standard blues track: “I see you coming, coming through my door. I see you coming, coming through my door/ It doesn’t matter when you get here; just tell me what you’re coming for.”
I really enjoyed this album. In a morass of indie bands that are faceless and tuneless, Black Bart stand out as a shining example of all that is good about today’s blues.
Black Bart on Myspace
|
