Pontus Snibb’s Wreck Of Blues – Too Late To Die Young (CD)

First of all, I’m a huge fan of Pontus’ raspy blues infused vocals and his fiery guitar work, also heard in AC/CD style hard rockers Bonafide. Wreck of Blues is however a totally different creature. The band features Pontus on guitar and vocals, his father Håkan Nyberg on drums and bass player Kalle Johansson. The music is rootsy, energy loaded electric blues. Even though I love Bonafide, I must say Pontus’ voice really hits home 100 % in this musical environment. The album is a cool meeting between Stevie Ray Vaughn/Robin Trower style guitar based heavy blues and classic rhythm ‘n blues. This trio sure has the power of groove flowing through their veins. Just check out tracks like “You Had A Friend” and “Light Me Up” with Håkan shuffling away like steady old tractor, with Kalle providing the low frequency steering wheel and Pontus harvesting the sweet tonal fruits. I really love the earthy, analogue mix which sometimes, like in “Brothers And Friends” sounds like it was recorded live there and then. Having had the pleasure of seeing the band live, I can say this is not far away from what they do sound like on stage. I also have to say, with the blues sometimes having the problem of repeating itself over and over, Pontus has managed to put some nice twists to the old well-oiled blues machine. Truly a kick-ass album!

Janne Stark

Label: Off Yer Rocka

Year: 2018

Country: Sweden