THE FLAMING MUDCATS * ' TIL THE MONEY 'S ALL GONE
Artist: The Flaming Mudcats
Label: Mudcat Music
Release Date: 6 February 2024
Genre: Rhythm & Blues
On their fifth album Til The Money’s All Gone longstanding Kiwi blues stalwarts The Flaming Mudcats hit the spot with a smorgasbord of 11 fresh songs. Recorded live in Studio 11B over two days, the band’s four songwriters cover everything from Little Feat-ish /New Orleans’ grooves (“ I Should Have Told You That”) through straight-ahead blues shuffles (”Good News”) to the jazz flavoured “Smoke and Mirrors”. They dip their toe in to funk on “Get On Down”, hover in a minor blues on “Satan’s Grip” and deliver a poignant Cyclone Gabriel memorial on the Robert Cray influenced “Waiting For The River To Fall”.
A strength of The Flaming Mudcats’ song writing is the strong story lines in the lyrics. This is backed up with some great performances from vocalist/blues harpist Craig Bracken who leads the band with authority while allowing plenty of room for the band to fly. The solid rhythm section of Ian Thomson( drums) and Pete Parnham (electric and acoustic basses) is complemented by the unique guitar playing of Doug Bygrave and keyboardist Liam Ryan on piano and Hammond B3.
This is authentic, well-considered contemporary antipodean blues and signals a step up from one of New Zealand’s best live bands. Well worth a listen.
– Midge Marsden, March 2024 in THE FLAMING MUDCATS WEB SITE :
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