All in all this is good Blues Rock with some competent song-writing and good performances.

When you come from The Netherlands you’re always going to have to work harder to prove your Blues credentials, but Coen Wolters gives a good account of himself. Modern in approach, Wolters’ Blues is of the variety that the Provogue Records usually proudly claim of their bands with the slogan ‘Where The Blues Meets Rock’. More than that, he’s also Funky, with Phillip Sayce being the artist he has most in common with stylistically.

The sassy, Funky ‘Time Of Day’ and ‘Complicated’ set his stall out well, not only do they pack a solid groove but he’s brought along good hummable hooks; something a lot of Blues bands can forget amidst all the fret-board abuse. Indeed Wolters’ decent vocals and fluid playing lift this well above your average journeyman Bar Blues band. The hypnotic slow Blues of ‘Into The Light’ builds until it gets drenched in Jimi Hendrix or Steve Ray Vaughn style wah-wah guitar and a monstrous, abrupt Led Zeppelin-like riff punctuates some of the tail end of the song.

At heart, you sense the band live will jam these tunes out. The bass solo on the Funky ‘You, Me And Your Monkey’ hints at this. The record has some variety from the lighter Jeff Healey or Jude Cole sounding ‘Home’ to the great Hendrix riffing that surrounds the otherwise average Pop Rocker ‘Shake My Tree’.

All in all this is good Blues Rock with some competent song-writing and good performances from the entire band. This has a very good polished production job as it sounds mighty fine booming out of the speakers with the guitars, bass and drums all given equal precedence and clarity in the mix.

Duncan Jamieson