A little 'Sweet Tea' with California Breed

First single, video from Glenn Hughes' new band premieres today
By Peter Lindblad

California Breed 2014
Photo by: Austyn Weiner

How about some afternoon tea with Glenn Hughes and his new band, California Breed? Instead of crumpets or finger sandwiches, there's powerful, swaggering rock 'n' roll to snack on.

Today, the newly formed power trio, featuring Jason Bonham on drums and young guitar phenom Andrew Watt, debuted the video for "Sweet Tea," the first single from their forthcoming self-titled album, at USA Today, along with a fascinating Q&A with Hughes, here: http://tinyurl.com/mmp7mxq.

California Breed's self-titled album is due out May 20 on Frontiers Records, and if "Sweet Tea" is any indication, it ought to be a raucous affair. Nasty and mean, "Sweet Tea" is a savory treat, a hunk of greasy proto-metal meat that's been sitting in the fridge of a truck stop diner since '73 and still manages to taste as fresh as if it was just butchered.

California Breed - S/T 2014

Although it borrows some of its testosterone-fueled strut from early glam-rock, "Sweet Tea," all cocksure attitude and tough hooks, sounds more like Mountain's "Mississippi Queen," with Watt's savage guitar riffs seemingly carved out of granite and Bonham breaking rocks in the hot sun with brutal violence, while Hughes stays true to his primal urges and unleashes mounting sexual frustration in vocals that really get the blood boiling.

An extension of Black Country Communion's all-too-brief existence, California Breed appears intent on sucking the marrow from the bones of the '70s classic-rock artists it wants to emulate. A performance piece, with the band's tropical eye logo covering its amps, the video finds the threesome playing the song with unbridled enthusiasm and raw machismo, with Watt dressed suspiciously like a young Ritchie Blackmore. All the while a comely lass cuts lemons and stirs up not only a pitcher of sweet tea, but also some raging male hormones to boot.

The album was produced by Dave Cobb, who's sprinkled his studio magic over works by Rival Sons and Shooter Jennings. It will be available as a CD, digital download and a Deluxe Edition CD + DVD that packages the original record with the bonus track "Solo," two videos and a documentary. Those that pre-order the digital download on iTunes will receive an instant download of "Sweet Tea" upon ordering. The iTunes and Amazon pre-order links are as follows:

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/CaliforniaBreed

Amazon CD: http://smarturl.it/CB_AmzCD

CD Deluxe Edition CD + DVD: http://smarturl.it/CB_AmzCDDVD

CD Review: Pat Travers Band – Can Do

CD Review: Pat Travers Band – Can Do

Frontiers Records

All Access Rating: B+

Pat Travers Band - Can Do 2013

Nobody’s found the switch yet to turn out the lights on Pat Travers. Approaching age 60, he can still coax beautiful melodies and electrifying power from an amplified guitar and get it to speak fluently in multiple tongues, such as powerhouse hard rock, hot funk and cool soul grooves, smoky blues and emotional balladry.

His conversations are simple and heartfelt these days, like those conducted in a dark, lonely tavern between two used-up people who don’t have the heart to lie anymore. Here’s one more for the road.

Lively, gritty and at times stylish, with spotless production, Can Do finds the Pat Travers Band talking in simple languages everybody from the hopeless romantic to the working-class slob can understand, setting hooks that have a firm grip and an easy logic. The latest studio album from the Toronto-born guitar slinger is by turns thoughtful and reflective, as the glassy serenity and breezy warmth of “Diamond Girl” and the wistful “Wanted (That was Then/This is Now)” so effectively illustrate, and vigorously defiant, shaking his fist at Father Time in rugged, driving rockers like “Stand Up/Give It Up,” “Armed and Dangerous” and “Long Time Gone,” a nod to Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” where his clearly defined guitars are searing.

Nowhere near as explosive or as sweaty as the classic Live! Go for What You Know concert LP and somewhat reserved in parts, Can Do is still mostly a spirited romp through Travers’ past and present circumstances, as the feverish title track surges and smolders in the heat of a summer night and the sparkling “As Long As I’m With You” unabashedly wallows in the joys of a real, warts-and-all love. Reinvigorated by his new relationship with Frontiers Records, Travers brings together a band of brothers that includes bassist Rodney O’Quinn, second guitarist Kirk McKim and the prodigal drummer Sandy Gennaro on drums, and they serve the songs well.

It’s a tight unit that’s in perfect sync with Travers’ many moods, weaving wonderful harmonics together in lovely figures when the occasion calls for it and then shifting into riff-heavy rock ‘n’ roll overdrive on Travers’ command, sliding comfortably into the utterly infectious blues grooves of “Dust & Bone,” a delicious bite of tasty blues-rock Aerosmith would have given up heroin for in the ‘80s, and allowing the melodic movements of “Waitin’ on the End of Time” to breathe.

Want to hear Travers stretch out and really show the kind of diversity and creativity he’s capable of? The beguiling instrumental “Keep Calm and Carry On” explores every facet of his skillful, classy playing, displaying a deft touch, cleverly executed maneuvers and a nice warm feel that are as apparent in the quieter, softer moments as they are when volcanic eruptions explode from his instrument. Is slide guitar your thing? He can reel off steely licks in his sleep. And if you want this Canadian to channel Lynyrd Skynard and fry up some high-energy Southern rock, there’s the boisterous “Red Neck Boogie” to scratch that itch. The charms of Can Do will bloom, just not right away. Wait for it. Your patience will be rewarded. http://www.frontiers.it/

– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Orange Goblin – A Eulogy for the Fans – Orange Goblin Live 2012

CD Review: Orange Goblin – A Eulogy for the Fans – Orange Goblin Live 2012

Candlelight Records

All Access Review: A

Orange Goblin - A Eulogy for
the Fans - Orange Goblin Live 2012

If the Hell’s Angels ever need a house band, they could do worse than Orange Goblin. These beer drinkers and hell raisers from Britain emit a gnarly heavy-metal roar as loud and smoky as the dirty exhaust pipes of an old chopper. And in all probability, like their brothers in denim and leather, they haven’t showered in months.

Or at least they probably hadn’t by the time they played Bloodstock and Hellfest in 2012, while out on the road supporting their late 2011 album, A Eulogy for the Damned. Welcomed with open arms by the great unwashed, the record knifed its way into the U.K. Top 200 upon its release and motored all the way up to No. 38 on the Billboard Heat Seeker’s chart. Taking no prisoners, A Eulogy for the Damned also conquered CMJ’s Loud Rock album listings by eventually grabbing the top spot. Still, as devastating and sonically brutal as A Eulogy for the Damned was, Orange Goblin’s studio LPs have never quite replicated the manly musk and hairy, brawling energy of the Orange Goblin live experience.

New from Candlelight Records, A Eulogy for the Fans – Orange Goblin Live 2012, comprised of thrilling performance recordings from both of those festivals of mayhem with videos and documentaries packed into a lively DVD, fills that void and then some. From the first squeal of feedback, Orange Goblin and their grizzly bear of a lead vocalist in Ben Ward set out to pillage and plunder, with churning, furious riffage born of ‘70s proto-metal and a healthy respect for doom rock, thrash and heavy, psychedelic blues that comes alive in the raging maelstroms of “Red Tide Rising,” “Quincy the Pigboy” and “Scorpionica.”

Relentless and punishing, Orange Goblin – established in 1995 – skillfully and dementedly handle twisting, crushing shifts in binge-and-purge dynamics with teeth-gnashing glee, sending the recent single “The Filthy & the Few” speeding into oblivion, bulldozing their way through “Acid Trial,” and then mauling “The Ballad of Solomon Eagle” and “Some You Win, Some You Lose” in beastly fashion. Whether he’s beating a meaty, menacing riff to death or flying straight into the sun on unpredictably wild solos, guitarist Joe Hoare maneuvers his way through the carnage like some crazed motocross rider. Hoare tears the guts out of the zombie-movie tribute “They Come Back” and the sprawling, Black Sabbath-like horror of “The Fog,” as Ward, Orange Goblin’s Rasputin of a singer, treats chilling lyrics in a gruff and malevolent manner that puts the fear of God into anybody who hears it. And that rhythm section, heaving to and fro while seeming so certain of its direction and drive, doesn’t shy away from a good bashing either.

There’s a little bit of cowboy in Orange Goblin, as the psychotic, mesmerizing grind of the irrepressible “Round up the Horses” so aptly illustrates, and this live effort comes off like a never-ending bull ride that tosses its audience around like rag dolls. Summoning the ugly power and raw, massive muscle of originators like Blue Cheer, Mountain and Vanilla Fudge, Orange Goblin claws through the tattered Southern rock glory of “Time Travelling Blues” and the rest of this set list violently, sending the frenzied crowd into paroxysms of metal madness. Those who were there are probably still talking about as one of the best nights of their lives.

-         –   Peter Lindblad