Extreme Makeoverby Whiteboy James and the Blues Express is a lot of fun to listen to. Most significantly, t he subject matter of the music is just highly entertaining. I, personally, put a high value on 'realness' in music. These songs seem about as real as blues gets. From “Big Butted Women” to “Mean Mistreat'n Woman,” it appears that we are tapping into some personal experience here. Then again, I doubt that he's ever actually met a Zerg, (“Zerg, Shotgun, And You” – track 5) but it does make for a damned cool song.
The music is performed with a lot of feeling. Some of the highlights on the album include some really good guitar playing on “Night Train Wine” and tasty harmonica work on “Slow Down And Let Me Love You“. Listen to that thing whine! “Slow Down And Let Me Love You” also features vocals that are very bluesy. Here I have to stop and level my one and only criticism of the album. There are songs (for instance the opening track “Big Butted Woman”) where the vocals don't come across as being so bluesy. It's not a big deal, but there are times when the vocals stylistically don't come all the way up to the level of the songwriting and instrumental performers.
Please don't let that stop you from getting this album, though! If you like gritty, dirty blues then here is a fix that you've probably been searching for a while. Go ahead and climb on board the Blues Express, and let Whiteboy James tell you his stories. You won't regret it.
Key Tracks- The Big Man, Night Train Wine, Slow Down And Let Me Love You
Donny Harvey- MuzikReviews.com Staff
September 29, 2011