BONEDOG – Gone Fishing (CD)

Gone Fishing is the third outing from the Swedish southern style blues rockers Bonedog. I’ve been spinning this disc quite a few times, but this time the fish ain’t biting as hard as it used to I’m afraid. Yes, the band sounds great, they are tight and groovy and the songs are fine. I’m not really sure what it is, but this one feels a bit more light-weight. It may be that the production is a bit thinner and I lack a bit of attitude. It is also a bit more laid back in the musical approach, more akin to vintage Sky High or Blues Bag, which is not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. Well, enough of the negative attitude. Despite my somewhat jaded outlook I think it’s a really good and even album. Micke Landréhn is a great guitarist and I really like his vocals, especially when he really brings on some attitude like in Messed Up By The Pain and Riding With The King. There are some really good songs in here and not any real lows, so as a whole it’s well worth checking out.

Janne Stark

Country: Sweden

Year: 2015   

Label: Self-released

SKY HIGH – Stone & Gravel (CD)

Swedish heavy blues rockers Sky High, lead by guitarist/singer Clas Yngström, refuse to give up. They were around when the burning bush still hadn't caught fire and they are still going! And, damn I’m glad for that! What I’m even more glad for is that they never fail to deliver. What makes me EVEN MORE glad is that Stone & Gravel is their best album in years! I was afraid Clas would embellish the big band stuff and walk down that road. But not, noooooo way! Stone & Gravel should actually be entitled Rock & Concrete! This album is one heavy mother! It starts out with the groovy Pretty Young Women (And Dirty Old Men), followed by the slightly ZZ Top:ish stomper One Step Back. If these two tracks haven’t convinced you already, just move on to the power shuffle A New Old Style (Old Farts Boogie), rolling on like a heavier updated long lost cousin of their old classic I Ain’t Beggin’. This is the top of the boogie class! There are no signs of wear or old age, even if some of the titles suggest that should be the case. F’get about it! This is power trio galore! It’s also nice to see the classic trio featuring Clas, bassist Arne Blomqvist and drummer Marcus Källström together again. It sounds like they were never apart in the first place. Tight, groovy and rockin! I also must give a heads up to producer Jonas Kjellgren who has given this platter the ultimate power and heaviness without making it sound too modern or artificial. It still sounds like real tubes, old Strats and acoustic drums! Welcome back guys! A killer album, indeed! And, the artwork looks absolutely killer!

Janne Stark
Label:Pike Records
Country: Sweden
Year: 2015

Link:www.skyhighblues.com

BONEDOG - Blame The Cat (CD)

Sweden sure has its fair share of great heavy bluesbands. Sky High, Moosters, Blues Bag, Bacon Brothers, Gerfast, just to name a few. One band that you should definitely add to this lot is Bonedog. Of course it’s a trio, all the best ones are trios, aren’t they? Bonedog consists of Mikael Ladréhn on guitars and vocals, Peter Forss on bass and vocals and Michael Andersson on drums. Bonedog at times remind me quite a lot of Sky High in their heavier moments, but they also have a touch of Lance Lopez in tracks like Riding. Groovy and nice with quite a tight sound. Great organic guitar sound and fat bass while I wish the drums would have been a bit ballsier and more dynamic. Sounds great, though. Bleeding reminds me quite a bit of Blues Bag, another sadly forgotten outstanding Swedish power trio and the slow soulful All Night Long leans towards late seventies ZZ Top. The band for the most part avoids falling into the standard four bar blues swamp even though it’s not what you’d call inventive. So what? As long as the songs are good and the band grooves, which is the case here, plus I really like Ladréhn’s guitar playing. A really nice slab of Swedish swamp rock well worth checking out. This band probably rocks even better live.
Janne Stark
Label: private
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link: www.myspace.com/bonedogblues

SKY HIGH - Download (CD)

Holy shit! Yngström & Co kicks off the new album with a point blank ball buster of a blues rocker. “Rok U” is a highly fitting title on this opening rawker. The subsequent “Lo-Rider” has some immediate good old, and quite rare, ZZ Top vibes the boogie way. The highly weird guitar solo probably Billy Gibbons wouldn’t even have dared doing. Clas does, and me likey – ugly and wicked! Then Clas’ guitar playing has always been slippery, rough and loaded with feeling. Even if I’ve always been a fan of Sky High I’ve never really gone around pining for a new album, but having listened to the new album quite a few times I feel maybe I should have. This is without doubt the best album Sky High has released since “Freezin’ Hot”. I really did like the album “Freedom”, released a few years ago, but I feel “Download” is the winner of the two. Clas of course shows his Hendrixy sides and here one of the cooler things is entitled “Better Place” Another track that kinda sticks out from the traditional Sky High template, is “out Of Time & Out Of Mind” with its cool verse and straight, driving and loud chorus. That Clas’ lyrics often are filled with his personal opinions is a well known fact, and here people in general get a slap in the face in the rock n rolling “People Like Crap”, a song that opens with the foreplay “Touched” where Rockis and James run amok. The album also includes two covers; Free’s old “Stealer” and Johnny Winter’s “Easy Life Rider”. Whoever thought Sky High was down for the cound has made a worse calculating error than the American real estate business. Up the blues horns!

/Janne Stark

Genre: Blues rock

Label: Pike

Year: 2008

Country: Sweden

Website: http://www.skyhighblues.com/