CD REVIEW: BLACK STONE CHERRY – Black to Blues EP

Shane | 27 September 2017 | Reply

CD REVIEW: BLACK STONE CHERRY – Black to Blues EP
Mascot Label Group
29 September, 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Black Stone Cherry have long inserted Cherry-flavoured versions of some unlikely material into their live shows – Adele’s Rollin’ In The Deep and Amy Winehouse’s Rehab are both YouTube favourites.

While those songs will have to remain unofficial releases for now, the southern foursome’s new EP features six blues classics given the full Kentucky-fried Cherry treatment, right down to their own special blend of riffs and roars.

At their best, BSC infuse these mighty tracks with their unique classic southern rock/post grunge rumble sonic attack.

Willie Dixon’s Built For Comfort – as made famous by Howlin’ Wolf – sounds as fresh and vital as if BSC had written it themselves. Muddy Waters’ slide-filled Champagne & Reefer seems perfectly appropriate seeing as these lads have been known to lean towards the indulgent side in the past, while Freddie King’s Palace Of The King is a behemoth of a track that they again stamp their brand all over.

Hoochie Coochie Man is a little closer to Howlin’ Wolf’s source material, but the addition of a sleazy stripclub trumpet makes it unique. Albert King’s Born Under A Bad Sign captures the essence of it’s “if it wasn’t for bad luck and trouble, I wouldn’t have no luck at all” blues, and Willie Dixon-by way of Muddy Waters’ I Want To Be Loved is a suitably dynamic closer, balancing the blues and the rock with style and energetic grace.

“A defining moment,” says singer Chris Robertson in the accompanying bio notes, “was reaising all the rock n’ roll that I loved came from the blues,” and they’re successfully simultaneously respectful and interpretive, adding their own very rock n’ roll feel to all these tracks.

Tracked in just two days and self-produced, Black To Blues is raw and raucous, and may just signpost a subtle direction change for their next album.