An album that is simply brimming with top quality tracks worth savouring time and again.
The front cover of Eric Sardinas's fifth full album shows his trusty self-modified electric Resonator Guitar sitting next to the cowboy booted feet of the guitarist himself. This illustrates perfectly that Sardinas views his weapon of choice, which in its natural acoustic setting is an instrument made famous by blues legends, as the real star of this album with its unmistakably individual sound dominating each and every one of the songs on 'Sticks & Stones'. However flip the disc over and you'd be forgiven for thinking that Sardinas had just walked out of a band like latter day Cinderella or Poison and this slight juxtaposition also brings a little insight to the sound of this album. Yes Sardinas brings a mighty dollop of rocked up blues through his stunning guitar work and bourbon soaked voice, however he also brings a more rock attitude to his music, with the end results almost coming on like The Georgia Satellites jamming with Clutch. Aiding and abetting Sardinas in his raucous good time blues/rock are bassist Levell Price and drummer Chris Frazier who bring a mighty thump to the irresistible grooves and a hefty smack to the gritty riffs.
A few years back there seemed to be a real trend towards cramming as many as seventeen or eighteen songs on to an album purely to fill as many minutes as possible on the CD. However I'm pleased to say 'Sticks & Stones' follows the more recent fashion, with a pleasingly succinct forty or so minutes allowing for eleven songs which take just a couple of spins to make their mark, although that is probably more to do with the fact that they are never short of excellent. The blues is undoubtedly a well worn genre path, but due to the characteristic sound that Sardinas literally has at his fingertips, these songs have the canny knack of quickly becoming old friends without the consequence of equally rapidly losing their sparkle. Every spin just brings home the real strength of this album revealing more depth and emotion in a set of songs capable of pulling at lonely heartstrings as easily as it turns any gathering into a party.
For those seeking a virtuoso guitar performance there's undoubtedly much to latch onto here, with Sardinas being a charismatic and skilled six-stringer who plays with boundless enthusiasm; however for those just looking for an album crammed with good time rocking workouts, then look no further than the full pelt instrumental 'Behind The 8' which not only lets Sardinas burn up his fretboard, but also is as infectious and joyous a blues/rock track as you could ever hope for. Add to that the more considered approach of 'Through The Thorns', or boogie stomp of 'Full Tilt Mama', where Sardinas also shows that his voice is perfect for this style of shit-kicking music and you have an album that is simply brimming with top quality tracks worth savouring time and again.
Steven Reid
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