"More Primitive" by Lonesome Shack

 There are record labels that when I hear that they have an album coming that I know that I'm already interested in what it is.

Alive Natural Sound fits that bill.

Lonesome Shack is a blues trio based out of Seattle, Wash., but it would never be apparent to anyone listening.

In some ways, it's very nice when things do not change. When a style of music remains rooted in its past and holds onto the feeling, the power, and the structure, then you have tradition.

They tow the lines between 12 bar blues, boogie blues, and country blues, and all points within. Blues has had a bit of a renaissance over the last few years, but mostly Chicago blues with long solos, but this is very different than that.

No more than three men can be in a shack and it be lonesome.

This album is languid and flowing. Instead of long expressive solos, there are drums and single note lines.

The music feels like a freight train crossing through a field in the middle of the night. The drums pull the vocals which pulls the guitar.

The word in my head as I listened to this retro gem was boogie. John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat have gotten a lot of rotation in my world and Lonesome Shack has that kind of a feel.

The music is always moving. Even though the tempo rarely changes, it feels like it's speeding up and taking the listener on a journey.

The lyrics are reminiscent of old 12 Bar Blues tunes, sing a line, repeat a variant of it, and then finish it off on the turn around.

The vocals are clean, emotive, and powerful. The lyrics tell stories through metaphors. The lead single, Wrecks, will do just that.

This is an album that fans of John Lee Hooker should have pre-ordered, but if they didn't know about it yet, here it is.

Release: 5/20/14
Genre: Blues
Label: Alive-Natural Sound
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