Heavy two-man guitar-and-drums blues-rock

The minimalist blues formula brought back to popular prominence by the White Stripes, has been equally effective for guitar-and-drums duos like the Black Keys, Two Gallants and Soledad Brothers, and bass-free groups like Black Diamond Heavies and Radio Moscow. The Welsh duo Henry’s Funeral Shoe, featuring Aled Clifford on electric guitar and vocals and his younger brother Brennig on drums, debut with heavy blues-rock originals that drift briefly into psychedelic jamming. Aled’s twanging low strings and Brennig’s heavy kick drum and tom-toms fill up the rhythmic and tonal space made by the lack of a bass player. There are shades of Peter Green in the guitar playing, and the sparse vocals have the rough-and-ready force of guttural blues shouters such as the proto-rock ‘n’ roller Big Joe Turner, the edgy electric bluesmen Johnny Winter, early metal howlers like Paranoid-era Ozzy Osbourne, and growling alley dwellers like Tom Waits. The elder Clifford writes lyrics populated with phrases rather than stories or characters, matching the duo’s instrumental style by adding verbal catch-lines to the riff-heavy music. These tunes are sure to be even more arresting when assaulting sweaty bodies on a darkened, beer-soaked dance floor. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

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