Five Dollar Shake - Bigger Heart (2024)

Anyone who thought the blues was dead should check out Five Dollar Shake. This five-piece rock monster from Utrecht is breathing new life into the genre with hurricane force.

Five Dollar Shake gives that good old blues rock a brand new glittery look. What exactly does that sound like? Soulful, heavy and bluesy. With a cherry on top! That cherry is singer Lucinda Legaspi. An indomitable front woman, blessed with a golden throat. Add some rumbling guitars, a ripping Hammond organ and a good dose of fun, and you have the irresistible sound of Five Dollar Shake. “That's a pretty fuckin' good shake!”

Five Dollar Shake hasn't been around that long, but the band saw its live reputation grow rapidly, and the stages grew along with it. Due to their infectious stage energy, virtuosity and - of course - strong songs, the band is a welcome guest at festivals, pop venues and run-down pubs. Culemborg Blues, dB's, the Zwarte Cross: wherever you place this band, your tent will be turned upside down in no time.

It's clear: Five Dollar Shake throws a party everywhere. But 2024 will be extra special for the band. The band presented its first album 'Bigger Heart' on Saturday January 27 in a sold-out De Helling in Utrecht: a record with a story. A divorce turned frontwoman Legaspi's life upside down. As a heart on her sleeve singer, she started to write down all the anger, frustration and pain, with the band as the ultimate outlet.

Bigger Heart is raw and pure, and tells a story that is recognizable to almost everyone. 'I'm hell bent to make it out alive', Lucinda sings determinedly in the heavy rocking record opener Hell Bent. But that's easier said than done: 'You did wrong by me and you did right by you', sounds frustrated in Wrong By Me. Bigger Heart is also about empowerment, about realizing that you are enough (I Can Do It Myself) while you stand for the first time with a drill in your hand to attach a shelf to the wall in your new home. About going rogue again (Midas), about not being happy anymore (It Will Do) and about seeing everything in perspective again, with all the emotions that come with it, in the monumental title song.

Five Dollar Shake has already played at the Zwarte Cross and was the support act for top American soul and blues acts such as Southern Avenue and Fantastic Negrito. The first EP 1,2,3,4… was released in 2022 and the compelling Lizzo cover Cuz I Love You in 2023. Bigger Heart was recorded in Wedgeview studio with producer Bram Dewachter.

There is blood, sweat and tears in the shamelessly sincere Bigger Heart. Yet the album is not a vale of tears but rather an energetic manifesto for empowerment. Made to play loud, Five Dollar Shake will also be happy to tell you the story live during their album and festival tour in 2024 .