CD REVIEW: BLUES PILLS – Blues Pills

CD REVIEW: BLUES PILLS – Blues Pills
Nuclear Blast
25 July 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

Like Australia’s Stonefield, the multi-cultural ensemble Blues Pills – two Americans, one Frenchman and a Swedish lass, all now based in Sweden – dig deep into a trippy 60s rock groove, heavy on the psych.

At their best when they nail down a hypnotic flash of lightning and ride it out, for the best description of the music, look to the gloriously alive cover art: vivacious and effervescent, colourful and enthralling, it’s a work of art between the grooves as well as on the tin.

As implied by the band’s name, the blues are never far from their thoughts (River especially plumbs a deep blues line, similar to Abbe May’s early solo work), while singer Elin Larsson possesses a truly unique voice that is partly hauntingly ethereal, a la Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, and part strident rock queen, like Heart’s Ann Wilson.

This debut album comes after a studio and a live EP, and lots of touring, have built expectations to fever pitch, and it will not disappoint with it’s trippy magic-carpet-ride grooves recycling what was old into something very exciting and new.

Category: CD Reviews