Spinner; Tony: Earth Music For Aliens

You know how the Blues is a genre crammed with slow shuffles, stories of babes gone bad, women who did you wrong, bosses who work your fingers to the bone and a world that simply doesn't understand? Well Tony Spinner sure as hell doesn't - oh no! For right from the quirky cover art and album title, Earth Music For Aliens, this is one album that is fun, fun, fun - with a double dash of grinning and a foot stomping of Hell Yeah! It helps that the man can play - and like Stevie Ray Vaughn did at that, yet there's also a slice of the from the heart that Jeff Healey used to give us, yet not at the expense of easy on the ear commerciality that Aynsley Lister at his best can provide. Right from the kick off of "Best Friends" and "Dust And Ash" the vibe here is upbeat, full on, and almost a throw down of the gauntlet to see if you can smile as wide as Tony and his helpers - Michel Mulder on bass and Alex Steier on drums - obviously like to. "Let Her Go" adds a funkiness that bounces and pings, while reining in the early exuberance, replacing it instead with an atmospheric vibe and some ridiculously impressive vocals, also from Spinner.

Yet at this stage Tony is merely toying with us, "The Answer" digging a funky groove so deep that they'll need to drill down hundreds of miles to investigate it, "It's A Living" proves that you can throw out a Huey And The Lewis vibe, without the need to sell out. While "Missy Talk" gives a sparser, yet no less intricate take on Rock 'n' Roll with a dollop of Blues 'n' Strut - Steier positively hammering the beat to the floor through a deftness of touch and eye for precision.

Don't be put off by the kiddie drawing on the cover, nor the main man in this trio donning an antenna festooned colander in the digi-pack, for while Tony Spinner and his band of extremely merry men know how to deliver a fun packed, damn good time, they do so in a way that is so far from throwaway that it is a serious lesson in Blues based control. Just listen to the heartfelt "Free Now", or sliding "Good For Me" for proof.

If this is Earth Music For Aliens, then sign me up for the first space flight out of here!

Track Listing
1. Best Friend
2. Dust And Ash
3. Let Her Go
4. The Answer
5. Hot Mess
6. Good For Me
7. Stop
8. It's A Living
9. Low Down Dirty Shame
10. Got What I Wanted
11. Missy Talk
12. Free Now
13. No Good

Added: April 11th 2014
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Tony Spinner at Grooveyard Records
Hits: 3433
Language: english

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