fbpx

Blues Pills – Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast)

August 4, 2014 by A.S. Van Dorston

Blues Pills - Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast, 2014)While Blues Pills is a brand new name for many, their debut full-length has felt like a long time coming, given that they turned some heads just six months after forming by releasing the Bliss EP (2012). They sounded fully formed and experienced despite the fact that their guitarist was just 16 years old. Rhythm section Cory Berry (drums) and Zach Anderson (bass) were playing a 2011 gig in France with their previous band Radio Moscow, and they were hugely impressed by the opening band, featuring guitar prodigy Dorian Sorriaux. Sorriaux lived and breathed music at an early age, with ZZ Top being his first favorite band at the age of 4. He began playing guitar at 9, with Rory Gallagher, Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) and Paul Kossof (Free) as additional influences. Later that year Cory and Zach met Swedish singer Elin Larsson in California. They started writing music together and sent Dorian demos. By December, they became the Blues Pills, with the two Americans, who were originally from Iowa, moving to Sweden to establish a home base in Örebro. Let’s hope their experience assimilating into a new culture is going more smoothly than Greg Poehler is portraying in his comedy Welcome To Sweden!

Perhaps they had to wait for Dorian to finish school, but for whatever reason, they took things slow, releasing just another EP in 2013, Devil Man. This gave the band ample time to develop their music and live show, and began winning over increasingly large audiences at European festivals such as Roadburn and Hellfest. Metal crowds can be tough on bands outside their preferred genres, but they embraced Blues Pills, as they understood that they were obviously much more than a nostalgic throwback band. Sure, they openly acknowledge their admiration of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream and other great psychedelic and heavy blues bands from decades ago. But they’re in this to evolve and create something great.

Given the long gestation period of the album, I was initially disappointed to learn that half the songs were done on their previous EPs. But the five songs have completely new arrangements and often new lyrics to the point that some are practically new songs. It’s a great way to track their artistic progress and growing sophistication. Case in point, “Devil Man,” which makes an appearance on all three of their releases. The first version was a showcase for Larsson to stretch out and flex the power of her bluesy vocals over a very simple vamp. The next EP named after the song was a much heavier recording, but still the same arrangement. On the new album, it’s much different, cutting out the long vocal intro and instead featuring more complex instrumental interplay and melodic lines interwoven in the new concise arrangement. Where I feared I would grow tired of the song, it was perfected and holds up over dozens of listens. “Bliss” changed so much they felt it deserved a title change to the weightier “Jupiter.” Originally sung in Swedish, the new version is a huge improvement, including doubling the length of the bridge in the middle, lasting over a minute, and releasing the tension with some great harmonies and an exciting jam.

The album was produced by Don Ahlsterberg, who produced Graveyard. That influence can be heard on the supercharged groove of “Ain’t No Change” and the sound and dynamics of the brilliant “Black Smoke,” which deftly switches gears from slow balladry to some furious rocking. If they’re going to pick a current band to be inspired by, you can do much better than one of the very best in the world right now. And like their mentors, they can pack a lot of power into their slower songs, such as the menacing “River,” (nothing ever good happens down by the river), “No Hope Left For Me” and the simply devastating Bolero-paced “Little Sun.”

The only less than perfect track for me is “Gypsy,” with its frisky boogie-funk, feels slightly too generic to me. It’s actually a cover of Chubby Checker’s 1971 song, which is hard to beat. You can’t argue with the flawless execution and performance, but a lone cover song, especially on a strong album of originals, should redefine the song into their own. It should be a statement of what the bands does best. Even though they didn’t succeed on those terms, I can feel the soul. You just can’t say this about a lot of contemporary bands working in the blues psych genre. Hell, you can’t even say that about a lot of music from 45 years ago. Blues Pills is a keeper, and a really good bet for getting even better.

Single version of “Black Smoke” (2012):

Other

Stuff

@fastnbulbous