Search - Little Charlie & The Nightcats :: Straight Up

Swinging the Blues

M. Allen Greenbaum | California | 10/10/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First and foremost, this is great party music: Almost every track is in the "jump blues" style, upbeat and eminently danceable, with some traces of jazz guitar that add to the fun. Superb ensemble playing throughout, humorous lyrics, and the band's obvious enjoyment make this stand above the rest of the (now popular) jump/swing blues bands.Vocals are easy on the ears and unpretentious, mostly performed in a tongue-in-cheek style (although track two's humor is lost on me). The band makes no pretense of recreating any particular blues genre. The guitar can be blisteringcan at times (tracks 1, "I Could Deal With It," and 3, I'm Just Lucky That Way"), making the group sound bigger than it is. Track 4, "Turn My Back on You," contains some tasty tenor saxophone, with some hints of jazz, yet never sounds like the generic sax we hear these days on commercials and late-night shows. In fact, esp. on Track 4, the whole group has a jazz sensibility, even the "talk trash" vocals are articulated in a scat-like way.The band slows down somewhat on the second side. Track 8 is good, but the B.B. King style licks, well, they ain't B.B. King! There's an excellent harp solo, with chording that recalls Sonny Boy Williamson on the Yardbirds album. Track 10, "Gerontology," jumps into full swing again, while "Playboy Blues" features an organ, a washboard-sounding bass, and lots of jazz/swing guitar, and a drummer who knows just how long to go with a solo. Finally "My Way or the Highway" (track 7), an instrumental, is a spirited blues with a swing perspective. The overdubbing of the heavily electrified harp will get you moving. Very highly recommended; try their other CDs as well."