Essential
Essentially raucous, there is certainly blues, but there is
also some heavy bluegrass as with third Lost
that begins with violin and banjo somewhere in the background, but when the
bass thunders in with drums, and James’ vocal growl, the tendency to what is
described on Shawn James’ Facebook page as rock
and roar is evident.
As I listen I am often thinking of Seasick Steve with even
more amplification, though here those ‘country’ additions broaden the genre,
and then there are the anomalies like halfway through second stormer Like Father Like Son there is a female
vocal repeating as lyric the title [for a moment a psyche sound] until her singing
moves to a vocal soar with the beating of bass, drums and guitar. The banjo is solo-plucked
and then sucked within the general roar, and then gospel-heavy handclaps, on
fourth Wild Man. Fifth Strange Days has James growling a la
Veeder, and it is a fine approximation, and a strong thundering song. Sixth Lake of Fire is a beautiful one,
guitar-ballad chord strokes, loud, and the violin involved once more. By eighth
Back Down the pattern is established,
and James’ vocal is without doubt the driving force, here having some of early
Cocker’s tone and power ably reflected, and, I kid you not, in ninth Lilth I can hear within that grit a
timbre of Rufus Wainwright. Yes, I heard and said that. Surely, Shawn James [with
superb band members here: Baker - Tenor Banjo, Chris Overcash - Violin, Jeff Bodine - Bass, Zach Coger - Drums
] is one to
watch.
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