Share the post "Album review: BAD PENNIES – Songs From The Medway Delta"
Top Dollar Music [Release date 02.02.18]
In many ways the Bad Pennies’ ‘Songs from The Medway Delta’ is a snap shot of the high standard of rocking blues that used to fill the nation’s pub and club music circuit.
But much like the album’s arresting art work of rusty weathered boats beached on dry land, ‘Songs From The Medway Delta’ is a musical a metaphor for familiar rock-blues template that struggles to survive without the oxygen of venues and publicity.
Undeterred, Bad Pennies employ a new wine in old bottles approach, in which 14 tracks provide a solid framework for a rock-blues format that takes in related musical influences such as booming shuffles, tight funk, exuberant boogie and hi-octane rhythm & blues.
There’s certainly provide enough variety to forge their own style on an album that works hard to engage the listener.
They are at their best on tub thumping shuffles such as the opening ‘Crash & Burn’, and the dynamic ‘Mynah Bird’, on which vocalist Adam Stocker delivers one of his best vocals on a song that cleverly works the dynamic.
They slip into the drum tight, wah wah-led funk of ‘Lady Luck’, and the more understated rhythmic work of ‘Walk Away’, complete with an unlikely tempo change that emphasizes Gary Seager’s jangly guitar work.
The current line-up has been together for 2 years, though the band’s history goes back to the late 90′s, while their musical influences reach back to the early 70′s
They contemporise core rock-blues elements in a wide ranging musical landscape. It’s all glued together by a self confident, road tested combo whose mission is clearly to nail a signature style with their own material.
They do so in part, on an album that flickers rather than burns. At their best, they sparkle with rip-roaring blues-rock, but on the less frenetic numbers, they display a curious circumspection that a producer would surely have smoothed away.
In short, they don’t always emulate what they set out to achieve.
Both ‘Walk Away’ and ‘One Shot (Ballad Of A No Good)’ for example, are slightly hampered by Stocker’s tendency to over-sing.
‘AM Blues’ also nearly runs out of steam, before being counter-weighted by a well placed guitar solo that ultimately adds little to the song as a whole. It’s an example of a good idea not being fully realised.
On the upside, the band’s inherent drive comes from the impressive rhythm section of bassist Gavin Matthews and drummer Dave Two Jackets, who know when to rock, swing and groove.
‘Medicine Man’ for example, finds Two Jackets anchoring a spoken word number with gentle brush strokes, while Seager’s country blues harp adds emotional colour.
‘When I Get Drunk’ aims for a quasi New Orleans feel, on a stop-time number that builds up a tension that is never quite resolved, as it simply runs out of steam.
They rock hard on ‘Queen of all the City’, though a lack of a warm guitar tone robs them of maximum impact. ‘Midnight Train’ is much better, and finds the band at their explosive best on a song that would easily fit into an Eddie & The Hot Rod set, while ‘Temperance Boogie’ confirms their road tested frisson.
They neatly bookend the album with some archive vinyl crackles on ‘Losing Streak’. The dobro led country blues number does just enough to make you want to explore the album again. ***½
Review by Pete Feenstra
Pete Feenstra presents his Rock & Blues Show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio every Tuesday at 19:00 GMT, and “The Pete Feenstra Feature” on Sundays at 20:00
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Latest session: Sunday 14 April
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 7 April 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 2 April 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
To see our Tweets you need to be logged in to a Twitter account
Popular (last 10 days)
Share the post "Album review: BAD PENNIES – Songs From The Medway Delta"
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections
