I must admit I’d never heard of ‘Bourbon House’ until this one landed and here we are with album number four. Bourbon House is essentially a vehicle for the voice of Lacey Crowe and the guitar of Jason Clark. It’s Rock, it’s Blues and it’s honest, or as the press release says: “At the center of Bourbon House’s music are Crowe’s unique blues-rock vocals and Clark’s gritty, bluesy guitar riffs. Their music is honest and their love for the human aspect of pure rock ‘n’ roll, as well as the desire to create an escape within their music, is the driving force behind their prolificity.”
Clearly influenced by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Bad Company and others there’s no real doubt about the sonics here and no real curve balls either. The only question of course when citing such esteemed influences is “Do they do it justice?” Let’s find out..
Opening with the cranked up ‘Resonate’ there a real stomp to kick the door open, it’s a great song but rather than go out with a bang it fades out which just somehow doesn’t sit right. The meaty riff to ‘Love is a Killer’ that follows it is just as compelling and the Plant-like phrasing of the vocals sit nice and tight. A couple of great songs to start but something on me is crying out for a dirtier production. There’s a little too much clarity in vocals and guitar that I know some will love, but for me the edges are a little too smooth for this kind of Rock and Roll.
‘Out for Blood’ starts a little darker and shimmies and swaggers with plenty of dynamics it’s another great rocker before the strum of the acoustic and ‘High Road Gypsy’ appears on the horizon. Starting slow and low it builds and ends in a satisfying mess of guitar and vocals – it’s a high point for me.
’20 to Life’ then adds some real Blues to the ledger before ‘Villain’ swaggers off the back of a solid riff and sadly doesn’t quite do it for me even when the pace picks up. ‘Hotel Bar Blues’ is another swaying 12-bar number but one that is rater generic, though not bad at all especially when it switches gears.
The album winds to a close with the contemplative ‘Blue Magic’ (the sort of song you could imagine Otis or Sam tackling) before final studio track ‘Wild Days’ the best constructed number here and a great number to go out with.
Two live acoustic tracks round out the release which I presume hail from previous releases. ‘Devil on My Heels’ and ‘High Road Gypsy ‘ both sound great stripped back, and the dirtier live sound sets off the songs so much better. If I have one issue with this record it’s that it sounds ‘produced’ and these two final tracks are the antithesis of that and I love them both. So if you like a clean Blues sound you’ll probably love this because you really can’t fault the guitar or the vocals.
The press release suggests “For fans of: Larkin Poe, Dorothy, Dirty Honey” I get little Larkin Poe, No Dirty Honey and a nice measure of Dorothy; but for me if clean Blues Rock is your thang then check it out.
7 / 10
Track Listing:
1. Resonate
2. Love is a Killer
3. Out for Blood
4. High Road Gypsy
5. 20 to Life
6. Villain
7. Hotel Bar Blues
8. Blue Magic
9. Wild Days
10. Devil on My Heels Acoustic (Live)
11. High Road Gypsy Acoustic (Live)