| CD
Review
| Five
Horse Johnson
| The
Last Men On Earth
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FIVE HORSE JOHNSON
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The
Last Men On Earth
Small Stone
Records
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Yet
another shattering monster from this dedicated Toledo, Ohio four-some.
Embracing heavy, chugging blues riffs ala ZZ Top meets Lynyrd Skynyrd
FHJ explode into their fifth platter with both barrels blazing.
“Cherry Red” goes right for the throat with a simple, intoxicating
groove built around more of a ‘70s respect than a carbon copy. Eric
Oblander’s vocals flourish under the augmentation of “Three At A
Time” and “B.C. Approved” sounding more the part of a
whisky-soaked croaker in a Mississippi juke joint.
The guttural “Cry Rain” and the funk of “Sweetwater” show the
band in fine form with Brad Coffin’s solos echoing back to the classic
Nugent/Schenker delivery. Yet, it is Oblander’s leap as a blues singer
in “Soul Digger,” with the polish of a slick harmonica lick, that
capitalizes on the band’s time spent opening for R.L. Burnside and
makes their foray into swamp blues far more legitimate.
“Yer Mountain” also makes dynamic use of the harmonica stain etched
into a rightful bass-driven groove courtesy of Steve Smith and
powerhouse drummer Mike Alonso. “Love 2 Lose” and “Blood Don’t
Pay” are riff-happy sing-along favorites but it’s the wooly
“Sawmill” that meets the devil in both lyrics and a lava-rutted
guitar. Bringing to life a respected black history fused with urgent,
bone-crushing hard rock Five Horse Johnson just may be the new
millennium’s Canned Heat.
Website: Five
Horse Johnson
or Small
Stone Records
Review by Todd
Smith http://www.thecutting-edge.net/
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