Restavrant
Yeah, I Carve Cheetas
Hillgrassbluebilly Records

White boy blues has never been better–the home-made junkyard drum kit sounds particularly good on this CD, where the intense “BOOM” from that literal box provides serious drive for what is probably the only post-war blues sound I’ve loved this much since Bo Diddley. This 2-piece (who once graced the cover of an early L.A. RECORD dressed as Run DMC) is outstanding, even visceral when you see them live. But I think the album might be better still–rather than add a bunch of random instruments or guest stars, they differentiate the songs in the mix, the stereo panning, and with a little bit more quiet and space than the live stage affords them (until the spitting oscillations of feedback squeal kick in). Fans of Jon Spencer, Lightning Hopkins, and Hasil Adkins will love this, as will those who like a little acoustic pickery in amongst their rock trickery.

-D. M. Collins