|This is one of the most important albums to come down the pike in long time. In its second week out, it’s already being played on 80 college radio stations across the country. Blues and rock legend Al Kooper just sent Howling Diablos band leader, lead singer and rhythm guitarist (on some tracks) Tino Gross a brief but telling e-mail. “Car Wash rules,” Kooper wrote. Tino told Big City Rhythm & Blues that this CD is an extension of the recording he produced for R.L. Burnside last year on the Fat Possum label. The one where he ingeniously blended hard driving Holly Springs-style Mississippi hill country blues with a modern hip-hop sensibility, in the process producing an instant modern classic. He was inspired so much by blues great R.L. Burnside that the ‘Car Wash’ project just had to be. With this recording the Howling Diablos, long considered to be more of a rock and funk band than a blues outfit, show the world that the hardest rocking music in the world is the Mississippi hill country blues of artists like R.L. Burnside and the late Junior Kimbrough. Revitalized with two new and wildly talented band members both in their 20s, Mike Smith on guitar and drummer Shannon Boone, Diablo veterans Johnny Evans on harp and sax, Dr. Mo Hollis on electric bass, and general ringleader and front man Tino Gross now emerge as one hell of an on fire five piece ensemble about to break out big time on the strength of this explosive new recording.
The fact that this blues really rocks is good for the blues, good for rock music, and it’s great for anyone wise enough to grab up a copy of ‘Car Wash’ and give it a listen. Spellbinding enough to show that the blues is more than just a rigid genre, fans of Morphine and Iggy Pop will experience a major adrenaline rush when they get their hands on a copy of Car Wash. Sax player Johnny Evans frequently treads close to Morphine’s dark rock, built as it was on a deep blues noir foundation. “A Woman (Like Mine)” followed by the album’s final track, “Elvis Lives,” share some stunning “Stooges moments” in the lyrics and vocal delivery. Tino explained that Iggy started off as a blues drummer, just as he himself did, and that the spontaneous music the Stooges laid down was close to the blues in many ways. The heart of any great recording gets down to the songs and the producer. This one was executed by design as an essentially sparse, lean, loud, live and red hot recording by veteran producer Tino Gross. The sound he created is particularly road ready as the band demonstrated at their recent well attended CD release party at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, Michigan.
Tino also either wrote or collaborated on nine of the album’s 10 songs, with R.L. Burnside’s “Gone So Long” (track 2) the sole cover. Yet Burnside’s finger prints are everywhere. The title cut sets the pace for that distinct sound augmented further by tight, rousing performances by all five Howling Diablos. “Broke Down” (track 3) contains a barely audible underpinning of spoken word street rants performed by Tino (in the style of a wino who has broken with reality) to expand on the song’s outward desolation and deep blue lyrics. “Prison Train” (track 4), a blues murder ballad, is among the album’s most striking achievements: “Well you know I shot my baby, shot her full of dope, early tomorrow morn I’ll be swinging from a rope…” Those lyrics set against the song’s cheerful and crisp guitar-driven instrumentation are what great art is all about. Recorded on an antique microphone at the White Room studios in Detroit, “Mean Little Town” (track 6) has some of the most stark, austere vocals the blues has ever known. This recording signals a whole new chapter in the life of one of Detroit’s great bands. Expect extensive touring soon to support this no nonsense scorcher of a CD. [George P. Seedorff / Big City Blues] |
