JOHN EMMS MUSIC REVIEWS

No one expected an album this good after over a 25 year gap, but Coney Hatch Four simply brims with muscular riffs and good solid songcraft.

Fans should have no reservations about scooping up this album worldwide.

Why?

It kills.

From the four on the floor rumble of Blown Away with Andy Curran’s bottom end and drummer Dave Ketchum’s musuclar drumming into the wah wah guitar solo of Steve Shelski everyone is aboard Carl Dixon’s passion on the very first track

The music somehow just feels right.

Curran takes the reigns on the anthemic powerhouse of Boy’s Club, the Cheap trick vibe of  Do it Again (not the Steely Dan track) and the great chunk heavy chorus of We Want More.

Elsewhere, Dixon’s sense of songcraft is in excellent form on Holding On and Revive.

It’s no secret the band flies higher thanks to Shelski’s great sense of guitar dynamics and inventive solos, but it all comes down to the chemistry of the four players.

With  the amazing gutsy return of Carl Dixon from his near fatal car crash this album is steering it’s own course!

JOHN EMMS is a veteran music journalist,

radio host

http://emms.podbean.com/

and songwriter/vocalist with Canada’s newest blues rockers THE SHAFTMEN

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/the-worlds-gone-crazy/id673101570

The first thing you notice on Jonny Lang’s new album Fight For My Soul is how Lang’s passionate vocals have become more nuanced, direct and focused.  And yes, he still displays some very hip guitar work.

However, some reviewers seem to be missing the point that Lang has invested a lot of emotion in this recording.

On tracks like the R & B numbers  What Your Looking For, and the terrific title track Lang and producer Tommy Sims would make Curtis Mayfield proud.

Elsewhere Breakin’ In sounds like a pop hit, while the eloquent Seasons and The Truth are revealing tracks, the latter eventually busting into some Gary Moore-esque guitar work behind Jonny’s superb lead vocal.

There is no doubt some blues based fans would love to have more tracks like the modern muscle and funky riff of the Stevie Wonder influenced We Are The Same and the single Blew Up the House.

This is new territory and one heck of a soulful return.

JOHN EMMS is a veteran music journalist, blues radio host   http://emms.podbean.com/   and songwriter with Canada’s blues rockers THE SHAFTMEN https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/the-worlds-gone-crazy/id673101570