Woke up this morning and found myself dead. OK, maybe not but if you happened to be looking for something to bring you back to life then Big Apple Blues’ album “Brooklyn Blues” would most likely fit the bill. For one thing, and this is something that is perhaps an anathema to the modern musician, this album sounds real. It’s not perfect, and in fact the sounds verges on the raw at times, but that these guys are not faking it feel prevails throughout.
With the majority of the songs being covers – “Killing Floor”, “I Hear You Knocking” and “Mellow Down Easy” will be like old friends to blues fans everywhere – you would be forgiven for thinking that this New York based blues band would fit into the norm and, to a certain extent, they do. However, if you add a few beers into the equation, then it all makes sense. They are not trying to be the perfect blues band more they are trying to keep the true spirit of the urban Chicago blues style alive and they have succeeded here. Barry Harrison nails the beats down every time, the searing grindhouse guitar of Zach Zunis hits the mark without fail and the live the life I love and love the life I live vocals of Anthony Kane steers the band on a course off into the dawn. It’s an all night long kind of album.
Sometimes the old ways are the best and Big Apple Blues provide the proof here.
Available from CD Baby.