Rating: NNN
Vancouver/Nanaimo blues duo Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer make quite a racket for two gents: Shawn “Harpoonist” Hall blows the shit out of his blues harps, hollers and plays bass, while Matthew “The Axe Murderer” Rogers handles (you guessed it) electric guitar, drums, bass and keys.
Add to this multi-tasking three backup singers, four horn players and an organist/clavinet player and they sound, on their third album, a lot like a funky rock band.
On the whole, the record is too long, and a lot of the songs sound similar. There are multiple highlights, however. Inspired by the “groove blues” of the 50s, 60s and 70s, the album’s a mashup of good-times bar blues, old-fashioned Chuck Berry-style rock and roll and even – on My Paradise – Talking Heads-like funk breakdowns. Best is when they switch genres completely and showcase their backup vocalists on falsettoed soul song Feel Me Now.
Top track: Feel Me Now
Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer play the Dakota July 24.
