Mike Zito - Resurrection (2021) [CD Rip]

Resurrection is blues-rocker Mike Zito ’s third album in a year and a half, and they’ve all been the same - but different. His tribute to Chuck Berry recorded in 2019 was just that, with the chestnuts reimagined in Zito’s heavier style. Last fall’s Quarantine Blues was mostly shutdown-themed songs that made the pandemic as much fun as it was ever going to get. With Resurrection, Zito is back on familiar blues-rock territory - equal parts soul/gospel influence and pile-driving riffage. No wheels are reinvented here, but there’s something to be said for doing a familiar thing with heart and style.

Press releases point out that Zito’s in a relationship that came close to breaking up while he was writing these songs, but it ultimately survived. And in truth, you wouldn’t need a press release to figure that out. “You Don’t Have Me” is very much a foot-out-the-door song, while the title track is a gospel-styled tune about love’s rebirth. His guitar does a lot of the talking on both, with a coiled-up nasty solo on the former and some beatific slide on the latter. His solos throughout are impressively flashy, though tasteful enough to not devolve into shredding, and there are a few slow burners for balance.

Nor is it all relationship songs: “Runnin’ Man” was clearly written around election time (“I say that I care with a weary sigh, just before I say goodbye”) and “Don’t Bring Me Down” seems to be addressed to social-media crap-posters. He also adds a shot of energy to well-covered songs by Eric Clapton (“Presence of the Lord”) and Clapton’s friend JJ Cale (“I’ll Make Love to You”). And Zito’s really best described by one of Clapton’s own albums titles, namely Journeyman. That’s something to be proud of if you’re doing it right. /Brett Milano, Offbeat Magazine

Personnel: Mike Zito (vocals, guitar); Matthew Johnson (drums); Doug Byrkit (bass); Lewis Stephens (piano, organ); Zach Zito (acoustic guitar); Lisa Andersen (backing vocals); Eric Demmer (saxophone); Fernando Castillo (trumpet).