The phrase incendiary guitar player could almost have been coined for David William Kearney, aka Guitar Shorty. He plays hard and loud, yet always skillfully. Surely the bare necessities for a guitarist of any musical genre - well, at least the ones worth listening to! And on this Alligator release he is certainly in fine form with an album that is as much rock as it is blues.
We have to own up to being particularly fond of his rockier take of Elvis's "A Little Less Conversation", which has a sound that is almost BB King does Hendrix. "Right Tool For The Job" is the other highlight and this one thunders along on the top of a shuddering bass line that supports Shorty's razor sharp guitar - it is a song that is just made for the open road, and with the car roof down (please check that you're in a convertible before attempting this!).
Of the remaining eight tracks we would have to pick out "Old School" and "What She Don't Know" as the other tracks of note. The former has a blusier Deep Purple sort of sound; while "What She Don't Know" is just pure distilled Chicago blues that Buddy Guy or Otis Rush would be proud of. If you like your blues and rock served up with a piping hot guitar, then this is for you.