Hypnotic two-man guitar-and-drums electric blues

This Northwest duo could be loosely lumped in with a half-dozen other bands playing blues as a duet of guitar and drums, but where minimalists like the Black Keys, Soledad Brothers and Radio Moscow are driving, Hillstomp is more droning. Even when they increase the beat to a toe-tapping (or hillstomping) tempo, their music remains more hypnotic than frenzied. Guitarist Henry Kammerer plays both straight six and slide guitars and vocalizes through distortion that sounds enough like a cheap microphone (which it may very well be) to give this live set an off-hand feel – as if John Lomax stumbled across the band on a recording expedition. Fans of more raucous electric blues may find this a bit sedate, but there are charms in the band’s subtlety. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

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