Rip Cat Records artist: Johnny Mastro & Mama's Boys - Luke's Dream - New Release Review

I'm just getting the opportunity to listen Luke's Dream, the new Johnny Mastro and Mama's Boys' cd on Rip Cat Records. This cd is gritty and grimy...just the way I like it. Luke's Stomp, a stripped down track with harp, tambourine, resonator and vocal sets a good pace to open the recording. Thunder Roll picks up the challenge and with a solid drum beat and droning bottom, drives the blues rhythm under a raw and raucous track. I really like the tone of the guitar on this track and the bottom of the track is just solid. Knee High is another great track with primitive rhythms and raw slide work. Mastro is a cool vocalist and knows just how to get the harp pushing the envelope. A jagged track with overdriven vocals and heavy hitting guitar chords. Cool guitar riffs are played almost under the track allowing a lot of breathing space for the natural boogie. Junker Blues takes a more straightforward 8 bar approach. This track again with great slide playing rips a hole in it! Mr. JJ's Man is an uptempo Harp jam with light guitar and vocals along for the ride. Hurt finds the grinding guitar man back wringing the breath out of his guitar. Using unusual phrasing the band builds a lot of tension and Mastro's vocals and harp are a good addition to this rough hewn battle axe. Tonight We Ride lays down familiar Chicago style sounds with the harp and vocal taking the lead and distorted guitar driving the track. Francine is another butt kicker that takes you to Hound Dog Taylor land. Great drive, great distorted guitar. great slide and gritty vocals. I mean, what else do you really want? Step back and let the boys play! My Rocket leads of with a screaming harp and cool slide. It has a very simple vocal structure ... almost early Steve Miller like... but they do boogie. The recording finishes up with Temperature, which takes a lot of different concepts and rolls them into a very raw and effective blues track. I've heard a number of tracks that have components of this song, but I've never heard anything quite like this. Listeners who are embracing the new primitive blues should absolutely love this recording. This is one of the most sonically pleasing and real primitive blues sounding cd's I've heard in a very long time! This cd was released on July 3rd. Find a copy while you can!

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