Tab Benoit
is back. While he's rarely been absent from the road, it took 13 years for him to follow the globally acclaimed
Medicine
, produced and co-written with
Anders Osborne
.
Benoit
hasn't been stuck creatively; it took him that long to free himself from a horrible record deal.
Justice Records
issued his first five albums while his reputation spread internationally due to the blues guitarist and songwriter's innovative playing style. When the label folded in the late '90s, his contract and catalog transferred to
Vanguard
, then
Telarc
Concord
, without his consent. He was unable to extricate himself from it, and simply refused to issue another album without adequate compensation.
That contract is finally in the rearview.
formed his own
Whiskey Bayou
label, and re-teamed with
Osborne
for
I Hear Thunder
produced and recorded it at his Houma, Louisiana swamp camp studio. The guitarists wrote all ten tracks together, and
's guitar appears on every song.
also employs his longtime rhythm section of bassist
Corey Duplechin
and drummer
Terence Higgins
George Porter, Jr.
handles bass duties on two tracks.
opens with the roiling title-track single. A simple hard rock blues, its punishing vamp governs the track as throbbing bass and thundering tom-toms support
's empathetic singing and spooky guitar solo. If this were a different era, the cut would have been an FM radio staple. "The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown" is an homage to the Texas bluesman. Set to a modified version of
Bo Diddley
's signature "Who Do You Love" vamp, the interplay between guitarists is canny.
's solo highlights the vamp while
's bites in the instrument's upper register. It's answered by "Still Gray," a local Houma take on a country-waltz that is at once soulful, romantic, and drenched in blues. "Inner Child" is another hard-rocking blues that recalls the psychedelic power blues of
Robin Trower
,
Mountain
, and
Cream
. "Watching the Gators Roll In" is an old-school swamp shuffle with an unforgettable melody. The ballad "Overdue" is a showcase for
's truly remarkable singing and vocal technique, which have only become more disciplined, emotionally expressive, and resonant over the years. "Why, Why" is a nocturnal NOLA-styled blues with killer fills from the guitarists and tasty snare rimshots.
Porter
's bass anchors both "Little Queenie," a good-time swamp rock blues and "I'm a Write That Down," with its funky R&B vamp. Set-closer "Bayou Man" is a hard blues guitar anthem seeded in a swamp funk setting. It's another perfect example of
's vocals and lyrics selling the song. The two guitarists actively play foils for the rhythm section, who lay down an unshakeable pulse.
is not only the musical peer of 2011's
, its songwriting, intricate playing, and singing actually place it on a higher rung of the creative ladder. ~ Thom Jurek