One of the things I admire most about Texas hard-bluesman Mike Zito\u2014and there\u2019s plenty about this talented guitarist\/vocalist to admire\u2014is that he makes absolutely no bones about what he\u2019s up to musically. He\u2019s such an unabashed Stevie Ray Vaughan fan, filling these tunes with stinging guitar licks, juicy hard boogie rhythms, blistering, sometimes near-psychedelic solos and slightly scruffy blues-shouter vocals, that he doesn\u2019t hesitate one second to go ahead and name-check SRV himself in song. And why not just own it? Hell, the crack band backing him here\u2014Tom Hambridge (drums\/production), Tommy McDonald (bass), Rob McNelley (guitar), and Kevin McKendree (keys)\u2014even sounds like Double Trouble half the time.<\/p>\n
The thing is, Zito and company understand exactly what makes this style of music tick, and they do more than merely imitate or emulate\u2014they elevate it. They make it their own. Make Blues Not War<\/i> might not win any awards for originality, but once you leave such considerations behind, it\u2019s another superb Zito album overflowing with meaty, earthy, punchy hard blues. <\/p>\n
Early highlights abound. \u201cHighway Mama\u201d revs the engine for half a minute before thundering in astride a menacing, nearly Zeppelinesque riff that drops out for chunky blues rhythms between volleys. \u201cCool highway mama, I\u2019m about to blow my top,\u201d declares Zito before blowing the roof off with an extended solo. \u201cWasted Time\u201d literally sounds like a lost SRV track, though the credits claim Zito and Hambridge co-wrote it with Richard Fleming. It has every element down: a playful Texas boogie beat, bold, flashy guitar fills, and Zito\u2019s pleasantly weathered voice declaring \u201cShame on me for wastin\u2019 time on you.\u201d \u201cRedbird\u201d feels like fairly standard fare until four minutes in, when the band launches into the stratosphere for a psychedelic jam session.<\/p>\n
It\u2019d be hard for a guy whose meat and potatoes is Texas blues to write a song called \u201cCrazy Legs\u201d without in some way referencing ZZ Top\u2019s megahit \u201cLegs\u201d\u2014so they don\u2019t even bother, instead aiming to one-up their forefathers with a full-on hard-boogie arrangement whose unleashed rawness gives back everything the slicked-up \u201980s took away from ZZ Top. The title track dials back for a tune that\u2019s both understated and a highlight, a slow, smoky blues with a simple, direct\u00a0 message that\u2019s impossible to argue with. Up next, \u201cOn The Road\u201d is exactly what it sounds like and more, a road song with sass: \u201cGot a blue Mercedes with a snakeskin top\u2026 Got a built-in bar to keep my cold cuts cold, etc.\u201d <\/p>\n
The second half offers more of the same, starting with a tasty cover of Luther Allison\u2019s grinding \u201cBad News Is Coming,\u201d possibly the most on-the-nose title ever given to a blues song. By contrast, \u201cOne More Train\u201d coasts along on light-hearted flair, while \u201cGirl Back Home\u201d offers an affectionate if rather by-the-numbers sketch of the same. \u201cChip Off The Block\u201d features Zito\u2019s son Zach playing along with Dad and lines about being raised on Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It\u2019s a roadhouse blues that refers to a roadhouse in the clich\u00e9-filled lyric, but it\u2019s so affectionately done it\u2019s hard not to love it anyway.<\/p>\n
Zito and company finish up with a pair of sharper numbers. \u201cRoad Dog\u201d might have a rather predictable lyric, but Zito gives it a heartfelt, totally committed performance that\u2014there\u2019s that word again\u2014elevates it into something special. And their cover of old-time Texas bluesman Clarence \u201cBon Ton\u201d Garlow\u2019s \u201cRoute 90\u201d is terrific fun, a rollicking number that has Zito declaring \u201cGonna stop in Bowman Texas \/ And get some barbecue \/ Come on, let\u2019s get some ribs, boys!\u201d as he kicks off a throaty little solo that\u2019s pure foot-tapping fun.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Zito for once here feels like more of a player and singer than a writer; after writing much of the two previous albums of his I\u2019m familiar with, this time out he co-writes just five of 12 tracks, collaborating with producer\/drummer Hambridge and Richard Fleming, who pen five more here without him, in addition to the two covers. The thing is, it doesn\u2019t seem to matter; every one of these tunes fits comfortably inside the same familiar Texas hard-blues frame that Zito has occupied long enough now that it\u2019s become second nature. Make Blues Not War<\/i> is some mighty fine Mike Zito, another showcase for the distinctly Texan hard blues he grew up loving, and whose tradition he carries on today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":33228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8198],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-45037","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mike-zito","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=45037"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=45037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}