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┌────────┐
────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Blues Pills
Title | Lady In Gold
Genre | Rock Format | Album
Source | CDDA Time | 40:05
Label | Nuclear Blast Store | 2016
Catalog | NB 3475-2 Rip | 2016
Bitrate | 253 kbps Size | 76.58 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | Lame 3.98.4
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. Lady In Gold 4:31
02. Little Boy Preacher 3:35
03. Burned Out 4:33
04. I Felt A Change 3:57
05. Come So Long 4:17
06. Bad Talkers 3:11
07. You Gotta Try 3:39
08. Don't Go Back 3:56
09. Rejection 3:34
10. Elements And Things 4:52
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Ultimately comprising members from Sweden, the US, and France, this
retro-flavored blues-rock quartet were originally founded as a trio in 2011
when the former rhythm section of Iowa act Radio Moscow - Zack Anderson and
Cory Berry - recorded a demo with vocalist Elin Larsson in her Swedish
hometown of Orebro. While on tour in France, Anderson and Berry met a
gifted 16-year-old guitarist named Dorian Sorriaux and invited him to join
the band. Excited by what Sorriaux brought to their sound, the band issued
their debut EP, "Bliss", under the name Blues Pills in 2012; their moniker
inspired by the name of a friend's blog that focused on music of the 60s
and 70s. A single, "Black Smoke", followed later that year, and 2013
brought appearances at prestigious European festivals such as Roadburn in
Tilburg in the Netherlands, and DesertFest in Berlin. The band managed to
tie in a 2013 German tour with their itinerary, and when representatives of
that country's Nuclear Blast label witnessed a handful of their shows,
Larsson and co. secured a record deal.
After the stopgap "Blues Pills Live" in 2015, the international rock
quartet returns with "Lady In Gold", a proper sophomore full-length. It
also marks the studio debut of drummer Andre Kvarnstrom. When the title
track single was issued, some fans of the Blue Cheer-meets-Janis Joplin
attack on the first album were taken aback by its embrace of rocking soul.
Some even went so far as to accuse vocalist Elin Larsson of trying to
emulate Adele. Evidently, they'd either forgotten - or didn't know - that
Adele derived her singing style from Aretha Franklin. Larsson is a rabid
Queen of Soul fan. "Lady In Gold" was recorded in analog over two years
with producer-engineer Don Alsterberg. The sound is much warmer, and the
writing more varied. It's more reliant on psychedelic R&B than bluesy hard
rock.
The single opens the set with a pumping piano that recalls the production
Norman Whitfield used with the Temptations (think 'Friendship Train' circa
1970). Larsson pushes right into the guitars and bassline before soaring
above them in the dense mix; she epitomizes the power and expression in the
lyrics about death as a woman. The thrumming bassline and distorted wah-wah
guitars create a spiraling racket underneath. "Little Boy Preacher" is
deeper, heavier. It's a take on psychedelic gospel, with Kvarnstrom's
funky, shuffling backbeats, Larsson's layered backing chorus vocals, and a
stinging, fuzzed-out guitar vamp from Dorian Sorriaux. Zack Anderson's
roiling bassline pushes everybody into the red.
"I Felt A Change", introduced by Larsson's croon with a Rhodes piano and
Mellotron, is an uncharacteristic ballad, weaving sweet Northern soul and
Muscle Shoals rhythm & blues. "Gone So Long" makes use of a glockenspiel,
organ, and a slide guitar in a sinister, dramatic, blues-inflected rocker.
In "Bad Talker", Larsson re-employs her grainy Joplin-inspired falsetto in
the opening section. But when the band kicks, she opens up and lets it rip,
powering through them. The groove is like Delaney & Bonnie jamming with the
Mad Dogs & Englishmen house band. "Won't Go Back" is a throbbing rocker
with a whomping Wurlitzer, a vicious fuzzed-out bass, spiky guitar, and a
double-time, popping snare rave-up under Larsson's Tina Turner-esque
wailing delivery.
The set closer is a completely reworked version of Tony Joe White's
"Elements And Things" (from his 1969 Monument classic 'Continued'). Rather
than use the Swamp Fox's chart, the Blues Pills choogle and swagger through
the melody and riff from the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" to thunderous
result. Qualitatively, "Lady In Gold" goes way past the band's self-titled
debut: Blues Pills' songwriting is more sophisticated, diverse, and
confident. The production, while offering a willingness to experiment,
doesn't sacrifice the raw power in their performance either. Forget the
sophomore jinx, this set delivers on the promise of that first album and
then some.
┌────────┐
────┤ Group ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Keep retail alive ffs.