Cirkus Prütz - Blues Revolution (CD/LP)

 

Swedish quartet Cirkus Prütz (named after something as unusual as the bass player! Well, there’s gotta be a first, nudge nudge wink wink) now releases their second album and already the opening numbers makes you happy. Highly addictive boogie rock with the diesel tank filled to the brim. The band is fronted by The Quill guitarist Christian Karlsson, here also on lead vocals which he handles more than well. He has a cool bluesy voice that fits that band’s style perfectly. The band is also equipped with a second guitarist who knows his stuff, Franco Santunione formerly of Electric Boys. The band’s front bassist Jerry Prütz has earlier released a bunch of albums with hard rockers W.E.T (not to be confused with the current unit featuring Mårtensson and Soto). ”Boogie Woogie Man” has a bit of ZZ Top vibes in the intro riff, but definitely stands on its own legs. Also the subsequent “Modern Day Gentle man” flirts with the beards with a fitting “every girl wants…” thrown in. A nice rocker! ”Let’s Join Hands” takes it all in a totally different direction with its country vibe making me think of a mix between the theme songs for “True Blood” and “True Detective” with vocals reaching down to Christian’s cojones. Next up is the highly Muddy Waters influenced “The Devil In Me” with a classic riff and some other feathers borrowed from Willie Dixon. ”Howl Like A Wolf” takes the tempo up and struts along with some cool licks. “Headache” is a heavier and also really cool number, also one whose riff teases the memory, while “Gotta Quit Drinking” is a classic slow blues with piano as an extra ingredient. ”Death Knock Blues” is a classic Molly Hatchet style southern rocker, and it actually now dawns on me that Christian does remind me a bit of Hatchet’s original (late) singer Danny Joe Brown, which is a good thing in my book! The album finishes off with what could’ve been a cover of Chuck Berry, classic 50s style rock & roll. It does take guts to play something as simple and straight ahead today. Kudos for that. This is car music, top down, a party rocker and a really nice energy injection if you need it!

/Janne Stark

Year: 2022

Label: Metalville

Country: Sweden

Artist: Stavros Papadopoulos

Title: Spirits On The Rise 

Year: 2020

Label: Grooveyard Records

Greek singer/guitarist/producer/mastering engineer Stavros Papadopoulos is one of the most active persons I know! He releases a never-ending stream of albums by bands like Universal Hippies, King Mountain, Freerock Saints, Super Vintage, Shadowplay Project and now also as solo artist. The common thread for all of Stavros’ bands and projects is the 70s. The riffs, the sound and the style bear clear marks of this glorious decade. So also his new solo album. If you’re into vintage Bad Company with a touch of southern rock, don’t waste any time – check out “Spirits On The Rise”. It’s bluesy, riff oriented with one helluva swagger. On this album, he’s accompanied by bass player John Christopoulos and drummer Chris Lagios, a super tight and steady dou who forms a steady ground for Stavros to strut his riffs on. Even if Stavros is a solid singer, he has added an outstanding instrumental track to the collection. His band Universal Hippes is all instrumental so this tracks lands quite close to those domains. He’s a really skillful guitarist with a technical yet bluesy and emotional style of playing, and even if his vocals may not reach to the same level (then he would be a reincarnation of Ray Gillen), he’s a highly capable singer. A very solid album, indeed!

Janne Stark

Cirkus Prütz – White Jazz – Black Magic (CD)

This combo features quite a few years of Swedish music history. Prütz himself, is bass player Jerry Prütz, formerly of the bluesy hard rock band W.E.T (not the recent melodic rockers) who released a bunch of singles and albums between 1987-2002. Guitarist Franco Santunione has played with bands like Glory Bells, Glory Bell’s Band and Electric Boys, while singer/guitarist is most known for his guitar magic in The Quill. He turns out to be a great singer as well, with a cool low down and half-dirty blues voice. The drums are handled by Per Kohlus. Cirkus Prütz plays classic bluesy hard boogie rock with a southern rock swagger. Shotgun Wedding Blues takes us to southern shuffle country, while Aim To Please has a classic Steve Ray Vaughan swagger to it. The Gary Mooreish bluesy “Blues For Fallen Heroes” is a very nice tribute to two of the band’s former guitarists, who sadly passed away: Mikael Fässberg and Robert “Strängen” Dahlquist. “Hell To Pay” is a kick-ass groovy, riff rocker that really hits home! One of my favorite tracks! “Friends” and “Hats And Strats”, both remind me a bit of early Molly Hatchet and Christian actually has a bit of Danny Joe Brown in his voice, come to think of it. A really nice footstompin’ classic southern style blues rock album!

Janne Stark

Label: Metalville

Year: 2019

Country: Sweden

Rockicks – Keep On Rockin’ (A Retrospective Anthology)

FINALLY!!!! G’daaaam! I’ve been waiting for this 70s classic to be released on CD since Moses was running around in shorts. Rockicks classic album “Inside” was released on RSO Records back in 1976 and I bought the LP back then. The band delivers a big chunk of southern influenced hard rock with dual guitars all over the place. There are heavy rockers like “Consideration”, rockers like “Rock N’ Roll Band”, powerful hard rockers like “Sweet Wealth” and “Keep On Rockin”. What was a huge surprise was that besides the 8 tracks from the original album there’s a SHITLOAD of previously unreleased bonus tracks here!! 7 tracks on the CD containing the album AND an extra CD with another 14 (!!) tracks!!! There’s a whole lot of killer stuff here! Damn, I wish they would have been given the opportunity to record a follow-up. Not that these tracks are badly recorded, but they could have been even better! 16 of the bonus tracks are from 1977! Damn! That’s even two albums (ok, there are a few alternate versions). There are also three really great tracks from 1991-1992. The quality of these tracks makes me wonder why there wasn’t another album there and then! The quality, both musically and soundwise is killer! The final track is a 2005 alternate version of “Consideration”, a sort of lounge version. Not bad at all, but I do prefer the heavy version. Unfortunately, two of the original members have passed, Rick Altschuler in 2004 and Brian Naughton in 2012, so I guess a Rockicks re-union is out of the question. Well, this double shot will at least give you the bands outstanding music in digital shape and form. A must!!

Janne Stark

Label: Grooveyard Records

Year: 2018

Country: USA

Super Vintage – Destiny (CD)

Our favorite Greek guitarist/singer Stavros Papadopoulos is at it again! How many hours does this guy have in a day me wonder? Now it’s time for a new Super Vintage album, Stavros heavy bluesy, 70s influenced power unit. He kicks off with southern tinged “Rock N’ Roll Saviors” and continues with a cool Bad Company vibe in “Brotherhood Of Blues”. The tracks ends with an extended, cool bluesy solo. “Edge of Time” continues in the southern vibe, actually combining the brit bluesy Bad Company vibe with a touch of vintage Lynyrd Skynyrd and a cool slide guitar to top it off. “Naked Tree” keeps it up in the same vibe, while “Streets Of This Town” has a sleazy, heavy edge to it. “Everything You Wanted” picks up the southern up-tempo vibe. The album finally ends with the slow acoustic “Destiny”, a classic southern rock ballad. What can I say? Stavros hasn’t made me disappointed before, and he didn’t this time either. A great bluesy, southern rock album, from Greece of all places!  

Janne Stark

Country: Greece

Year: 2018

Label: Grooveyard Records