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‘Another Waste Of My Time’ demolishes men’s misplaced egos pretty effectively over
a jump-blues backing, and ‘Whoopsy Daisy’ is another up tempo blues, before ‘Time’
shows Suzie’s slow soul balladry. ‘Whiskey’ is a jazzy blues, with neat, instrumental
breaks by guitarist Matt Jackson and saxman Al Nicholls and lovely vamping piano

by Ilja De Neve, behind Suzie’s appropriately dissolute vocal.

‘Tumblin’ is a fine blues-rocking boogie (and is that a Led Zep reference in the guitar
break?). ‘Bitch Back’ is a fan favourite – particularly older female fans apparently; it

is a good old fashioned rock and roll blues with Suzie singing about the effects of
growing older. ‘Dead Butterflies’ is a curious old-fashioned blues, and the upbeat

‘Layla-Sue’ is another rock and roll inflected song.

This very enjoyable set closes with the original ‘Drunk’, with Suzie’s appropriate vocal
backed by a low-down blues, morphing into a rocker with Ilja De Neve on organ to

drive it home. Suzie thinks she had a good time, but listening to this album, I know I
had one.

Norman Darwen

Steven Troch Band—The Dawning—Naked
NP095

This is the fourth album from this Belgian combo

under the leadership of singer and harmonica man
Steven Troch. Over the years they have recorded
plenty of fine blues, but this is a little different.

The opener has a New Orleans-ish funk
arrangement replete with some pinched harmonica
playing from the leader and a neat guitar break by

Matti De Rijcke. It makes for a fine start and also
points the direction away from the traditional blues
that the band has on this set. To underline this, the next track up, ‘The Mountain’, has

a vaguely reggae-tinged rhythm guitar and drums accompaniment on a shuffle rhythm
behind Steven’s lived-in vocal and subtle choral backing vocals. ‘Deleted Scene’ recalls
maybe the seedier side, a little like Tom Waits but with a fine blues harp break.

Elsewhere there’s some droning funk with electronics in the backing and on the
harmonica sound, and a little mutated country, plus a tint of seventies pop and
another reggae-styled piece.

If all this sounds a little too far away from the blues though, never fear. Most tracks
exhibit strong blues elements, as already noted, but lend an ear to ‘Double Down’, a
strong, swinging blues harmonica instrumental, and take a listen to the band’s cover

of The Memphis Jug Band’s ‘On The Road Again’ – this is not for general airplay
though! It is an interesting set and shows how the blues can be incorporated into
other styles. Purists won’t go for it, but it is worth a listen.

Norman Darwen