Soledad Brothers: Live

Reviewed by GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Positioning themselves somewhere between 60s garageband r'n'b rock, 50s juke-joint blues, 80s pub-rock and an explosion in a hubcap factory, the very thrilling Soledad Brothers out of Detroit — whose previous outings have been produced by Jack White — display a ragged but likeable racket here. Like the White Stripes, they are essentially a two-piece: Johnny Walker (guitar, harp, organ, lazy-Jagger vocals) and Ben Smith (drums, percussion, backing vocals) but here have an unidentified saxophonist. With Walker's drawling Southern vocals and some incendiary guitar boogie (which references everyone from Dylan to George Thorogood), this is a live album that puts you in the front row and proceeds to bash you round the lug-holes. Raucous rock with a refined sense of humour and admirable energy. Rumours of a tour are to be encouraged.

Label: Smash