2016 –Walk the Dog Music
/ Friday Music Inc.
By Phillip Smith;
July 29, 2017
One of the hottest albums I’ve heard this year is Badass Generation from The Paul
Nelson Band. Featuring a dozen
wonderfully written and performed original tunes, the album is a surefire hit
in my book. Nelson, who was awarded
a Grammy for performing on guitar and producing the legendary Johnny
Winter’s 2014 Step Back album,
fronts one tight as hell band. This killer
quartet consists of Nelson on guitar, singer Martin Fredheim,
bassist Christopher Alexander, and drummer Chris Reddan.
I love the thick Texas-style blues riff on “Down
Home Boogie”. The licks are searing and
the slide guitar is sweet and buttery. Fredheim’s
vocals are amazingly powerful and confident. “Keep it All Together” has an instant
likeability and hooks me with its southern-blues-rock charm. With only a few listens under my belt, “Please
Come Home” has already clawed itself inside my head, waiting to be running on auto-play
upon my awakening. Nelson’s
guitar performance is this ballad is spacy and cosmic. It reminds me tremendously of Jerry Garcia
from the Dead’s In the Dark
era. It’s a fabulous song indeed.
“Swamp Thing”, Nelson’s nitty gritty guilty-pleasure
love song, is one big ball of fun. With
an infectious hook surrounded by the sounds of the night, the tone is perfectly
set. The grinding intro on “Trouble” is chockful
of gusto. Reddan’s full-on drum
attack is terrific and Nelson’s solo on the bridge is downright
awe-inspiring. When the dual guitar
rings out on “Take it Back”, I immediately think of one my favorite bands, Black
Oak Arkansas. I have to turn the volume up a notch or two for this badass album
closer. It’s rock and roll at its best.
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