Mike Phillips’ 1990s-era Nashville band Peace Cry is a classic case of “should have been.” The band had a dynamic stage presence, socially-conscious lyrics and, in Phillips, a blowtorch vocalist with fearless, rage against the machine charisma. Sadly, although Peace Cry was phenomenally popular regionally, they never sniffed a label deal and went the way of so many other talented bands. Flash forward 30+ years and Phillips has hooked up with a new gang, the Tennessee Blues Mob, and I’m happy to say that they’re kicking ass and taking names. With Deep Dark Alibi, their six-song debut EP, Tennessee Blues Mob roars down the lost highway on fat tires and a tailpipe belching fire and brimstone, politesse disappearing in the rearview mirror as the band proceeds to steamroll everything in its path.
Phillips’ vocals are raw, unbridled screams from the abyss suitable for Norwegian death metal but better for hard-edged blues-rock. Wrapped around his inscrutable lyrics, Phillips vox channel the pissed-off spirits of a hundred Delta bluesman while the rest of the Mob rumbles on behind him with malevolent intent. Guitarist Shane Borchert is a beast, gnawing on his headstock and firing off blistering licks machinegun-style like it's the Valentine’s Day Massacre, but capable of subtlety and nuance when needed. Terry McClain’s keyboards add the right amount of grandeur to the songs, while the rhythm section of bassist Damian Robinson and drummer Scott Mincey create swaggering rhythms with jet engine precision. Monster performances like the stomping funk of “Climb the Mountain,” the soaring pathos of “Six Feet Under,” or the anguished “Two Devils,” with its stabbing Gothic keyboards, skid between your eardrums like an out-of-control Harley. With Deep Dark Alibi, Tennessee Blues Mob pursues a throwback ‘70s sound with a razor-sharp contemporary edge, more than living up to their billing as a “dark progressive heavy blues rock” band. BUY!
Review republished courtesy of That Devil Music.com...
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