Page 45 - BiTS_07_JULY_2023

The first thing that strikes me with this album is that they are a tight band and you can thank
both Octavious Fox on bass and Dean Rhodes on drums for that. The guitar work from Blake
Sanders is both measured and varied and he avoids the trap of many guitar bands by not
overplaying those long guitar solos. Their music is very American in terms of style and also
with the lyrics which Blake delivers well both in terms of diction and impact.

Despite being only a three piece band they still manage to generate a variety of styles and the
craft and production which has gone into these songs has helped them create their own sound
and style. Yes there are hints of ZZ Top and C.C. Adcock here and there, but this album of
Garage Blues is a great debut and well worth checking out.

Ged Wilson

Sean Taylor—Short Stories—Independent Release

Sean Taylor is a well established solo artist and songwriter on
the blues scene both here in the UK and across Europe. He was
recently nominated in the 2023 UK blues awards for acoustic
act of the year, a true measure of his success to date. After
releasing a live album earlier this year, it’s back in the studio for
his latest release, “Short Stories”.

The album opens with ‘Happy Days’ where the almost rap style
lyrics carry the rhythm over a nice groove, a great opener.
‘Snowdonia’ is a nice gentle descriptive song whilst ‘Wildflow-
er’ is a beautiful piano based love song. ‘Mona Lisa’ is a foot tapping boogie with harmonica
and piano as he pays homage to perhaps the most famous painting in the world.

‘Gravestones’ has a hokum blues vibe enhanced by the violin of Basia Bartz. The Irish narrative
of ‘Sweet Maria’ is endorsed with a feel of Van Morrison and the lush Hammond organ sound
of Justin Carroll. ‘The Letter’ is a blues with electric piano and harmonica and has a J.J. Cale
swing to it.

The album closes with ‘Be Cool’ a spoken word offering which is so descriptive on top of a
great groove. Whilst piano and Hammond drive along this cool vibe the groove is punctuated
with some awesome trumpet sounds from Eric Lounsbury. This is something Sean does oh so
well, almost seven minutes of bliss and I don’t want it to end, this would not be out of place on
the Blue Note label!

This album has a completeness about it, the way the double bass of Mike Seal gels with the
percussion of Paulina Szczepaniak is just enough quality not quantity. The pedal steel of Joe
Harvey Whyte really enhances the songs too, adding another dimension.

Sean has developed and grown into one of our finest songwriters and lyricists. This album
moves away in part from some of his more hard hitting political themes of previous albums

and he has produced something that is both wholesome and beautiful here. Sean’s gentle voice
has matured and seems so natural and soothing in the way that Nick Drake always did.