October 30, 2007

Black Diamond Heavies

Every Damn Time

8 / 10 Black Diamond Heavies singer John Wesley Myers doesn’t growl. Tom Waits growls. Joe Cocker growls. Myers barks like a man who’s had his throat ripped out by a wolf. He gargles the thick blues drawl of a man who has never inhaled without a Marlboro Red in his gob, which is partly why ‘Every Damn Time’ is so damn brilliant. Calling themselves “a punk-ass blues duo”, the Tennessee-hailing group have produced a debut of filthy Southern blues that makes The Black Keys seem like choirboys. Accompanying Myers’ roar is his Hammond organ, grooving about on down-tempo tracks like ‘Signs’ and the bitter broken heart of ‘All To Hell’, before honky-tonk jiving through ‘White Bitch’’s anti-drugs preach of “Fuck cocaine!”. At full steam, ‘Every Damn Time’ could soundtrack a Wild West train heist. When notched down, it’s darker, moodier and even better. A fabulous debut.

Stuart Stubbs

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