GRINDER BLUES (dUg Pinnick) – El Dos (2021)
GRINDER BLUES, which features dUg Pinnick of King’s X fame on bass and vocals, guitarist and vocalist Jabo Bihlman, and Scot “Little” Bihlman on drums, are back with their second album “El Dos” (The Two in Spanish).
GRINDER BLUES has a confident mission. To quote Dug directly “The idea for the music was to stay away from the clichés and rock out. If we felt like we were heading into any songs that seemed like standard blues lyrically or musically, we made it a point to veer in the opposite direction.”
The band is a Hard Blues Rock band that is aiming to offer up a contemporary spin on traditional Blues Rock and that’s essentially what ”El Dos” is all about, driven by strong guitars and dUg’s unique vocals.
The playing throughout is both faithful to the blues tradition and also explosive and dynamic with plenty of top tier virtuosity to power the whole affair. ”El Dos” is full of great individual performances, solid, heavy hitting, organic sounding drumming from Scot, fat bass playing snaking through underneath from Dug and fiery guitar acrobatics from Jabo.
The vocals are mainly handled by Dug, however all three of the guys take turns on the microphone.
There’s a more funky groove on songs like “Gotta get me some of that” or “Who wants a spankin”, however this is heavy blues with hard rocking moments. Sometimes it reminds you of ZZ Top, sometimes it is like Robin Trower and his guitar make a guest appearance. It sounds at times very traditional but in the same sense modern as well.
The production is good with an almost live feel through much of the album that really lends itself well to this style of music. The instruments sound natural. No tricks, no gimmicks, you hear instruments in a pure rock and blues environment.
Just like the debut this record has been produced by Miles Fulwider who has brought out the best out of these musicians by keeping things simple, raw and effective.
Highly Recommended
01 – Another Way Round
02 – Everybody
03 – Gotta Get Me Some of That
04 – Who Wants a Spankin
05 – When the Storm Comes
06 – Somebody
07 – Keep Away
08 – Hold Me Close
09 – Hand of God
10 – King Without a Throne
dUg Pinnick – vocals, bass
Jabo Bihlman – guitar, vocals
Scot Bihlman – drums, vocals
BUY
www.deepdiscount.com/grinder-blues-el-dos/4250444188796
