Monday, February 24, 2014

"The Good Life" by John the Conqueror

John the Conqueror is a blues band based out of Mississippi or Philadelphia, depending on your concept of time and space.

Either way, this group has only been together since 2010 and the Michael Gardner's only been playing drums since that time just as Pierre Moore started singing at the same time by plugging a microphone into a practice amp. Along the way they started belting out blues and bassist, Ryan Lynn was brought into the fold. This rounded out their duo into a full band which they named after the folkloric slave hero.

The Good Life is the sophomore record of this very young band. What is truly amazing is how quickly this whole thing has come together for this band of friends. Pierre and Michael have been friends since childhood, and the quickly brewed friendship with Ryan is what got him into the band as it were.

The pretty one is the singer.
This album is a bit different from the Alive-Naturalsound albums that I normally hear. The production is just fabulous. In no way is this a lo-fi record in any stretch. It's just recorded beautifully.

The guitar sounds leap out of the speakers and into your head. The vocals are strong and haunting. The rhythm section is tight and powerful.

Pierre writes some wonderful lyrics that tell the stories of his past and plays some damned fine guitar to go along. Switching between chords and melody lines he weaves in and out of the songs coloring them every shade of blue there is.

This album cannot be recommended enough. John The Conqueror's sophomore record shows that the slump only exists if the artist chooses to let it.

Release date: 2/25/2014
Genre: Blues
Label: Alive-Natural Sound
Run time: 38:57
Facebook link

Tracklisting:
1) Get 'Em
2) Mississippi Drinkin'
3) Waking Up To You
4) What Am I Gonna Do
5) Golden Rule
6) Burn Down The Cornfield
7) Road To Bayport
8) You Don't Know
9) John Doe
10) Daddy's Little Grirl
11) She Said

Purchase the CD, Download, or Vinyl  here.

(Not a video from the current album, but a behind the scenes of their previous.)

1 comment:

  1. Looking forward to checking this out, thanks for the rec!

    ReplyDelete