Formed in 2011, Blues Pills are blues based rockers with a love of all things psychedelic. They released their eponymous début album in 2014, and it is an impressive one at that. It’s mix of 60s blues and psychedelia with a 70s rock outlook complete with raw and authentic production works very well. They are back with their second album Lady in Gold (Nuclear Blast) and producer Don Alsterberg has returned to man the desk. Marijke Koger-Dunham has also been lured back to create another psychedelic, far out album sleeve.
It continues the bluesy psychedelic vibe of their début but it has been beefed up by bigger, more polished production. It is melodious and very catchy rock, more multi layered but with the same Hendrix inspired 60s and 70s spirit running through it’s veins. The title track is a gem, with an infectious melody and a thrumming piano backbone – a song about a female grim reaper has no right being this upbeat! ‘Little Boy Preacher’ and ‘Bad Talkers’ are some more great examples of this record’s knack for multi-layered earworms. They are delightfully snappy foot tappers, with Elin Larsson’s vocals supported by choir like backing singers throughout. Their most adventurous step and the biggest surprise is the heartfelt ‘I Felt a Change’, a beautifully mournful track led solely by mellow keys and emotive strings.
The second half of the record holds true to the heady blues and dirty early ZZ Top-esque groove of their debut, with the trio ‘You Gotta Try’, ‘Won’t Go Back’ and ‘Rejection’ snugly fitting in side by side. The latter song is the rockiest moment here, an energetic track propelled forward by the thrusting guitar work of Dorrian Sorriaux. Similar to their self titled début, Lady in Gold has a cover version. The first one was Chubby Checker’s ‘Gypsy’, this time Tony Joe White’s ‘Elements and Things’ gets the Blues Pills treatment. It is a rocker, which ultimately stays faithful to the original, ending with an oddly captivating organ blast.
8.0/10
THOMAS THROWER
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