The Insomniacs
came blazing out of the gate with a big, bold West Coast blues sound that was as much R&B as it was jump blues and swing. Portland, Oregon is better known for its alt rock scene, but
the Insomniacs
have been burning up local clubs since they launched their career in 2007. They won that year's Muddy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Act despite their retro feel, and their first album,
Left Coast Blues
, was nominated for a Blues Music Award for Best Debut. They follow their impressive premiere with this platter, an even more remarkable set written and recorded in just two days.
are tight and divide the program between obscure covers and their own high-octane originals that show them as an original force to be reckoned with. "Description Blues," the most traditional-sounding tune, is a tale of infidelity, and
Vyasa Dodson
's tortured vocal is full of passion and frustration.
Alex Shakeri
's Hammond B-3 details an extended solo that's both jazzy and blue, followed by
Dodson
's workout on guitar, full of bent notes, long sustains, and lightning-fast runs. "Maybe Sometime Later" is a
Howlin' Wolf
-style Chicago blues, a slow, swampy groove with a sly lyric. "She Can Talk" tips its hat to the teenage rockers of the '50s, a portrait of a pretty girl laying waste to the male population with her dazzling chatter, while
Shakeri
's piano drops some
Jerry Lee Lewis
into the mix. "20/20" is a wry take on the phrase "20/20 hindsight," a loose, shuffling lament about lost love and regret;
's guitar and
's B-3 supply the fireworks. "Angry Surfer" is an unexpected side trip featuring
's blend of twangy surf guitar licks and Chicago blues guitar, and
's boogie-woogie piano. The rhythm section supplies a backbeat with a Latin feel to add to the complications. The instrumentals
lay down are just as compelling as their songs. "Root Beer Float" is a showcase for
's piano; it's a jump blues played at a high-speed tempo.
avoids blues cliches by playing mostly on the bass strings of the guitar, giving his lines a fat, chunky, rhythmic feel;
's right hand takes care of the high end while the rhythm section adds dynamics with unexpected stops and starts. The closer, "Insomniacs Boogie," is a horn-driven jump tune with
Jeff Big Dad Turmes
' sax and
's guitar kicking the tune into overdrive as the band wave an energetic goodbye. The group also shine on the covers: "Broke and Lonely," a
Johnny Otis
/
Johnny "Guitar" Watson
tune, receives a ragged, countrified makeover,
Little Richard
's "Directly from My Heart to You" gets a greasy, New Orleans R&B treatment, and
Junior Wells
' "Hoodoo Man Blues" is a smoky remake with guest harmonica player
Mitch Kashmar
contributing a soulful solo that would do
Wells
proud. ~ j. poet