Traditional Blues themes and licks brought bang up to date.
Right now if you are looking for a commercially tinged Blues act to fulfil those down and dirty moments, then the UK is the place to be. The likes of Aynsley Lister has for a while been combining Blues roots with Rock cred and glinting hooks, and now comes the Jon Amor Blues Group to add an authentic, gritty flair to that mix: the results being big, bold and brash, as well as being intricate, grooving and seductive.
The real strength of this debut from the Blues Group (Jon Amor has previously released albums as a solo artist and with The Hoax), is the manner in which traditional Blues themes and licks are brought bang up to date with a breathless production that sweeps the whole album into a lively, almost out of control storm of riffs and pounding beats that are rough and raw at the same time as being expertly crafted. Amor also tightropes between being a Blues vocalist of authentic tradition, an out and out screamer and melodic Blues crooner, switching between these styles as the emotion of the music dictates, allowing songs from a genre not known for its individualism to sound fresh and vibrant as well as respectful and authentic.
A quick blast of shit-kickers like ‘Juggernaut’ and ‘She Thought I Was An Eagle’ illustrate the pummelling power this quartet can spurt out, ‘You Know It’s Love’ and ‘Holy Water’ add a commercial sheen to the blood pumping riffs, while ‘The Underdog’ offers a more refined approach.
There seems to be a real Blues Rock, or as a friend of mine put it recently, Rock Blues revival right now and Jon Amor Blues Group deserve to be right at its forefront.
Steven Reid
Subscribe to this comment's feed
