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The lyrics seem to be dealing with lockdown – Cass needs to hear the sound of the city - and her
smoky, smooth vocals, the mellow keyboards and the sparse guitar work put the message across

well. A rather intriguing release, this one.

Norman Darwen

The Atomic 44s—Volume One—Bird Dog

(www.facebook.com/The44sBand)

I’ve raved about the opening track, ‘The Boogeyman’ in these
pages before, and listening to it as the opening track of this set
doesn’t lessen its impact one iota. The Atomic 44s were founded
by harmonica player Eric Von Herzen, who has worked with
people like Walter Trout, Social Distortion, and most importantly
for this outfit’s name, The Atomic Road Kings, and guitarist and
singer Johnny Main of The 44s.

The sound these guys make - aided and abetted by such
luminaries as Kid Ramos, Bill Stuve, Jim Pugh, Deb Ryder and
other highly-respected figures of the California blues scene - has a strong retro sound, drawing on
the likes of John Lee Hooker, Billy Boy Arnold and Howling Wolf.

The production shows that these guys understand the sound they are aiming for, the sounds of
Memphis and Chicago in the 50s, with its rough edged down-home approach and strong ensemble
playing, the harp way up front and mightily impressive. The vocals are in the same vein too (try
the hard-grooving ‘Candy Man’ - an original, by the way - or ‘Ol’ Mexico’).

In fact, the album captures the ensemble sound perfectly, and achieves just the right balance
between a loose spontaneity and a tightly-controlled groove (try ‘Lyin’ Still’ for a good example).
And despite my “retro” comments, it also comes across as a strongly contemporary blues set.
Recommended.

Norman Darwen

Misty Blues—Take a Long Ride—Lunaria (Single)

(www.mistybluesband.com)

“Featuring Joe Louis Walker” screams the bye-line, guaranteed
to grab my attention even if Misty Blues wasn’t already one of
my favourites of the newer crop of US blues outfits (well,
they’ve only been around about 20 years). Singer Gina Coleman
wrote the song about being on the road and away from your
loved ones for long stretches of time, and the collaboration came

from a flippant comment made by Gina in a radio interview. The
result is this foretaste of Misty Blues’ eleventh album, due early
next year on UK label Lunaria.

The slow- to mid-tempo introduction leads into Gina’s distinctive vocal and then the horns come in
to lift it up another notch, before Joe’s stunning, inventive guitar break raises it even further, and a
squealing sax joins the fray near the end. It’s an excellent and individual gospel-tinged blues that
bodes well for the forthcoming set, but don’t wait until then. Get this now…

Norman Darwen