Wildcat O'Halloran - Hot Pulldown - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Hot Pulldown, from Wildcat O'Halloran and it's tasty. Opening with shuffle tune, Hot Pulldown, Wildcat opens strong with 3 plus minutes of guitar slaying guitar akin to Bishop's Tulsa Shuffle joined by Joe Fitzpatrick on drums.  Excellent! On Latin fueled, Shaped Like A Woman, O'Halloran leads the way on vocal and guitar, backed by Matt McManamon on bass, Fitzpatrick on drums and Wally Greaney on harp. Bluesy guitar riffs and cool harp lead really compliment the drum rhythms nicely. Emily Duff adds warm sax work to soulful R&B number, Sherlock Holmes with clever lyrics and well phrased blues riffs from Wildcat. On boogie track, 51 Right, 49 Wrong, Wildcat hits a super groove backed by Devin Griffiths on guitar and Ottomatic Slim on harp. Super! Jimmy Reed's Honest I Do is up next and it's really cool Retaining Reed's arrangement, Wildcat's own guitar work, vocals and harp work sound great. Stripping it back to a more traditional sound, Lightning Hopkins' Prison Blues shows strong blues sense and nice percussive attach on acoustic guitar as Wildcat accompanies his own vocals. Grover Washington's Mr. Magic puts the spotlight on Duff's sax work with Ken Maiuri on keys but Wildcat shows he can play just about anything with sweet aggressive fusion solos. James Cotton's Here I Am has the classic Chicago sound as if it's about to pounce with Greaney on harp and rabid guitar riffs from Wildcat. Wrapping the release is Separate Words, a solid blues number featuring Wildcat on hot slide with David Griffiths. This is a hot closer for a really enjoyable release. 

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Wildcat O'Halloran - Party Up In Heaven - New Release review

I just received the newest release, Party Up In Heaven, from Wildcat O'Halloran and it's a full blown party. Opening with Rollercoaster, an uptempo rocker, stinging guitar riffs from O'Halloran and Devin Griffiths and smooth sax work from Emily Duffy ride nice on the roller coaster of drums and bass of Jopey Fitzpatrick and Loverboy McManamon. Crossin Off is up next in pure ballad format with Paul Provost on keys. This is the kind of track that you would often see Gary Moore pack full of guitar riffs and Wildcat is hot on his tail. Very clean! A rock'n'roll style track, title track, Party Up In Heaven, is up next sounding like a Little Richard track with vintage guitar riffs. Cait Squires and Emmalyn Hicks add background vocals and rolling keys by Provost. Gypsy Deadend Track is a slower acoustic style blues featuring primarily vocals of O'Halloran and harp work from Wally Greaney. Drownin (Flu Bug) has a sixties boogaloo/blues style. Nick Borges is featured on trumpet on this track for a tight solo. O'Halloran steps up with a few more real nice solos on guitar. Everything I Do has a cool R&B feel and a nice slide solo. Hate Me For A Reason has a bit of a English blues/rock flavor with sassy sax work by Duff. Nice guitar and sax riff exchanges in this track set it aside. Livin By My Wits has a Latin rhythm with strong tom tom work from Fitzpatrick. One of the most entertaining guitar solos of the release is found here with a free flowing guitar lead taking the melody. Duff also steps up for her own whack at the pinata and really does a nice job! Probably Dead is a quiet acoustic blues with harp by Wally Greaney. A light Dan Hicks kinda of tune. Nice! Fell From Heaven has a 60's "rock" rhythm by Fitzpatrick and with warm sax feeling and cool guitar riffs and Greany on harp. N.Y. I'm Home has a cocky Lynyrd Skynyrd feel with spanky guitar riffs and a catchy Huey Lewis kind of melody. This is a fun release and one that is quite entertaining.

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