THE JUKE JOINT PIMPS Boogie Pimps
Voodoo Rhythm Records
Raw power German blues punk, anyone? Here it is. This recording sounds as if it was recorded on a 1980s cassette recorder with the band trapped inside an IKEA wardrobe. But bear with me, because I have to quote a couple of things from Voodoo Records, based in Bern, Switzerland.
First, the slogan on the label: ‘Records to ruin any party’. There’s honesty for you. Second, the 12-panel liner tells us ‘This recording has been done the way recordings are meant to be done: played live by real human beings, straight onto 2 inch tape, with very few overdubs and without all the digital bullshit that makes a lot of today’s music sound like sterilized, bleached diarrhoea’.
Well, after reading all this you might think I don’t like it, but once you take the band and the studio’s philosophy on board, what it says on the tin is what you get. This is fat, thickly-layered heads-down sweaty blues played by a duo of Mighty Mike on vocals, drums and harp, with T-Man on guitar. The tracks have a relentless beat driven by Mighty Mike, whose growling Howlin’ Wolf via Hound Dog Taylor style vocals on original compositions such as Slim Stepped in Some Shit and A Thing You Gotta Face, although buried in the mix, still possess an earthy power.
Any bets they’re a riot live. I liked this album, but as with all explosives, you have to handle it with care.
ROY BAINTON
