Delta Generators - Devil In The Rhythm (2008)

Rarely do blues fans in any part of the country get to hear a debut album in which tempos and moods are shifted compellingly across original songs. The welcome spontaneity of Delta Generators-style blues on the four-star Devil in the Rhythm derives in some measure from the tracks having been recorded with all the musicians together at the same time in a basement studio. We pushed Craig off to one corner of the room, notes Rick. Two winter weekends recording in basements nailed it; Perkins appears on two album tracks, Armstrong on seven.

REVIEW of DEVIL IN THE RHYTHM by Delta Generators.. If there is any justice in the world, album opener Hand Me Down Blues will draws serious attention at songwriting competitions and award shows. This pounding, straight-ahead romp, glorious in its simplicity, finds Craig laying down the law to some deadbeat in a forthright, don t-mess-with-me way. The spirited musicians echo every one of Craig s flammable articulations. Charlie really lets it rip on That Evil, a take-no-prisoners homage to Chicago blues houserocker Hound Dog Taylor, who generously gave the world Give Me Back My Wig and Walking the Ceiling. The Greater Boston area probably hasn t heard such a mighty ruckus since the 1970s, when slide wizards Hound Dog and J. B. Hutto torched Joe s Place in Cambridge and Sandy s Jazz Revival in Beverly. Straw Dog Strut smacks listeners upside the head with another dangerous sonic blast of slide guitar. This exciting salute to the late great Elmore James (Hound Dog Taylor s mentor) is also memorable for Craig s passionate singing. Go figure--the song title may or may not refer to the violent Sam Peckinpah-directed film Straw Dog in which the meek character played by Dustin Hoffman stood up to several vicious thugs. In two quick minutes, title track Devil in the Rhythm cleverly acknowledges the good time 1950s when Buddy Holly had his say and the likes of Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, and Chuck Berry launched a new musical rage called rock n roll. The no-nonsense Bone Orchard Blues does a slow grind, making connections with the idiosyncratic music of Tom Waits. Craig sings All Good Things Must Come to an End using two persuasive approaches: first, he rather matter-of-factly explains how life plays out, then, he ratchets up a go-for-broke intensity. Many bands exaggerate feeling, but these guys do not. Read My Letter is a change of pace. It s an unsentimental love song in a country music-meets-blues mode that differs from the other tracks because it makes use of studio overdubs, such as additional guitar tracks. The production is just right, neither showy nor fussed-over. Rick O Neal calls the slow blues Never Satisfied an addict s anthem. He explains the emotional tone of the tune: No matter what they try, it doesn t satisfy them. On that song, Charlie s slide guitar cuts to the heart of the matter with human voice-like wails. Rick mentions how Somebody s Got to Pay Your Bond, the slowest and longest song on the CD (at five minutes), is sort of a slow cooker that never boils over....It s like the sleepy morning after....What the hell happened last night? -Frank John Hadley, columnist for Downbeat Magazine ---Frank John Hadley, columnist for Downbeat Magazine