Does Hound Dog Taylor: Try It...You Might Like It!

マサチューセッツ州ボストン出身のUSエレクトリック・ブルースロック・トリオ、GA-20のフル・アルバムがKARMA CHIEF RECORDSよりCD / LPリリース!

OTIS RUSH、J.B. LENOIR、HOWLIN' WOLF、JUNIOR WELLS、そしてHOUND DOG TAYLORをフェイヴァリットに挙げ、フレッシュでリアルなフィーリングのブルース・ロックを繰り出す3人組。アルバムのオープニングを飾る"SHE'S GONE"や、THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSIONもカヴァーした"LET'S GET FUNKY"、そして"GIVE ME BACK MY WIG"、"HAWAIIAN BOOGIE"などのブルース名曲たちをアグレッシヴに料理しています!

When GA-20 released 2019s Lonely Soul, their debut long-player for Colemine, their loose, raw, high-energy approach to Chicago blues made a fan of Brucer Iglauer, founder of the Windy Citys Alligator Records, the worlds premier modern blues label. He reached out to sign them but was disappointed to discover they already had a deal. Guitarist Matt Stubbs, a fan of Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers since his teens, suggested a compromise. Alligator was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the labels first release, Taylors self-titled debut album. Stubbs suggested this tribute as a cooperative project between his band and both labels. GA-20s lineup -- Stubbs and slide guitarist/vocalist Pat Flaherty and Tim Carman on drums -- mirrors the Houserockers exactly. GA-20 researched the bands gear and dug deep into their recordings. They selected ten tunes written or closely associated with Taylor. The set opens with Shes Gone, the swampy first cut from 1971s Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers. GA-20s version offers a midtempo groove with a pronounced, clattering snare shuffle, low-end distorted guitar, and Flaherty preaching the blues convincingly over the top of a razor-wire slide attack. It offers proof enough that these cats arent interested in reinterpreting this music so much as just playing it. Lets Get Funky is maniacally driven by Carmans double-time snare choogle, and a mean, wrangling slide riff underscored by a fat, filthy, rhythm guitar vamp. Sitting at Home Alone reveals the deep, lasting influence of Elmore James on Taylor and GA-20 alike. Its a slow, testifying blues with barely contained distortion that provides bedrock for stellar interplay between Flahertys lead fills and the bands breaks-laden 12-bar progression. James is echoed again later when the band offers a stellar read of his It Hurts Me Too, a nightly entry in the Houserockers setlist. The instrumental Phillips Goes Bananas (titled after Houserockers guitarist Brewer Phillips) and Give Me Back My Wig best illustrate the swagger and strut of GA-20s gritty approach. They are the very best examples of genuine house rockin music here, and are virtually guaranteed to get anyone with a pulse onto the dancefloor. See Me in the Evening is a midtempo stroller driven by Stubbs unshakeable yet spasmodic guitar boogie. Sadie is a sultry groover with Flahertys grainy vocal at its most expressive riding atop Carmans shuffle; it buoys the lyric while Stubbs provides the low-down vamp that binds the tune to earth, even as the slide threatens to take it over the rails. Though just a shade over two minutes, closer Hawaiian Boogie is another riotously happy house rocker; Stubbs rhythm riff drunkenly shambles across Carmans clattering beat while Flaherty unleashes the full power of his slide as a lead and percussion instrument. Try It... You Might Like It! is a stellar second effort from GA-20. They get the spirit and the sound right here in delivering enough sweaty, raucous, grooves to fuel a rent party all night long. ~ Thom Jurek