This quartet from Asturias (Spain) called Blues & Decker offers not very orthodox blues, sophisticated moments and wacky explosions of energy in their debut album. 'Stealin' the blues' is an excellent presentation letter of a band that has a long way to go but can be proud of the current accomplishments.
Blues & Decker is not the typical blues band that tries to remain faithful to a classic or traditional sound, nor just cover old and well known songs of the genre in their own way. The spirit that guides the members of the band involves taking the blues away to mix it with many styles, and that's why they decided to name their first work 'Stealin' the blues', title that wants to underline their outsider role inside the genre.
Gustavo Perez (lead vocals and rhythmic guitar), Ludwig Molina (drums), Kike Cuetos (bass) and Guzman Lanza (lead guitar and vocals) got together in 2009, and after a few rehearsals they found a lot of common ground in the classic blues and all its derivative forms. Later they came out in favor of a harder sound that could be defined as blues-rock, with all the members feeling comfortable towards the chosen references. On May 2010 they recorded a demo and then played a large amount of shows at bars (the best place to enjoy their music) and festivals in Asturias with occasional trips to Galicia and Leon (Semana Negra, That's All Folks Festival, 1st Gijon Blues Festival Route A66...)
After two years greasing the live machinery and composing their own songs, in 2012 Spring the band went into Magoo Studio in Oviedo to record, with Juan Martinez as the sound technician, nine songs that shape their first record. All of them have the blues as background but Blues & Decker embellish each one of the songs with little details, different chords, melodic and stylistic ornaments that result in resounding pieces which move them closer to 70's psychodelic rock (Till dawn) or funk-metal (Tomorrow); they know how to play softly too, in intimate and mellow blues-rock ballads (Blues is dead) or more sophisticated and elegant pieces (Stealin' the soul). When they decide to take a classic path (No worries) or hit the electric blues of great intensity via Chicago mixed up with bits of swing (Posology) they end up being convincing in the same way. And it goes without saying that they do a good job covering classic songs as Shame, shame, shame (Jimmy Reed) -featuring David Garcia from The Blind Lemons playing the harp- and John the revelator, the song that Son House used to sing a cappella. All of that enclosed with nice lyrics that avoid blues clichés and supported by a forceful, brilliant and aggressive sound, reflection of their live performances.
'Stealin' the blues', wrapped in a beautiful design by Diego Perez Gonzalez, is an excellent presentation letter of a band that has a long way to go but can be proud of the current accomplishments.
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