Page 43 - BiTS_07_JULY_2021

'Hoochie Coochie Man' really benefits from Feltham's harp playing. The album continues with a

slightly 'punk' take on the blues (and an obsession with booze) including a shot at the MC5's 'Kick
Out the Jams' and we finish with a nice relaxed take on J.B. Lenoir's 'Down In Mississippi’.

Graham Harrison

Billy F Gibbons—Hardware—Concord Records ASIN :
B08ZBJR2W9

This is the ZZ Top frontman’s third solo album and features all
original songs apart from a version of The Texas Tornadoes’ 'Hey
Baby, Que Paso'. It was recorded at Escape Studio in California’s

high desert, near Palm Springs, and was produced by Billy, Matt
Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, The Cult) and Mike
Fiorentino, with Sorum also playing drums and being joined by
Slick Lilly's Austin Hanks (guitar). What does it sound like?
Errrrr…it sounds a lot like ZZ Top!

We start with a bang with ‘My Lucky Card’ with its growlin’
vocals, riffing overdriven guitars and pounding drums and a slide guitar solo, more of the same on
'She’s On Fire’ this time boasting two guitar solos. ‘More-More-More’ and ‘Shuffle Step & Slide’ are

both hard hitting blues rock and ‘Vagabond Man’ is a nice melodic slow blues with great guitar and
at 3.59 it's one of the album's longer tracks with most tracks being a succinct between two and half
and three minutes long. The psyche surf rock ‘West Coast Junkie’ features the line “I’m a West
Coast Junkie from a Texas Town" and 'Stackin’ Bones' features Rebecca and Meghan Lovell from
Larkin Poe adding their backing vocals and guitars. With ZZ Top on hiatus Mr. Gibbons has
undertaken these solo albums to keep his hand in so there are no real departures here - it's just his
trade-mark guitar-heavy blues-rock, with just 'Desert High' an atmospheric ode to the desert that

reminded me of Robbie Robertson's 'Somewhere Down the Crazy River' deviating from the high
energy riffing.

Graham Harrison

Little Hat—Wine, Wimmen & Whiskey—Rhythm Bomb
Records ASIN : B08WZLYZ8Z

Little Hat are a Dutch band comprising Machiel Meijers (vocals
and harp), Willem Van Dullemen (guitar) and Paolo de Stigter
(drums), their sound is a mixture of classic blues and rockabilly

and despite their limited lineup they have a very full and
authentic sound. ‘Cutie Named Judy’ is a rocker from Jerry
McCain with pounding drums and frantic slide guitar while 'Cat
Squirrel' is the old Doctor Ross song (also covered by Cream (as
Cat’s Squirrel (Ed)) done here in traditional style and things
slow down a tad for the lovely Excello-style 'If You Think I've
Lost You'. Little Walter's ‘Just Keep Lovin’ Her’ picks up the pace
again and other blues classics the band tackle are Walter's 'Ora Nelle Blues', Hound Dog Taylor's
'’Gimme Back My Wig’, Papa Lightfoot's ‘Wine, Women and Whiskey’ and the very authentic-

sounding ‘Highway 61’.

Elsewhere it's rocking dancers like ‘Boogie in the Park’ and the more modern ‘Barefoot Rock’ by
The Blasters. This is a really good record by a band that I'm sure would be great to see at a festival