Takers - If The Blues Were Red

  by Andrew Carver

published: 7 / 2 / 2003

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Review

Bass drums hits and reverbed chords start off the eight tracks and 45 minutes of 'If The Blues Were Red', introducing yet another band that  follows in the tracks of the White Stripes, Black Keys, Mr. Airplane Man and the Soledad Brothers. But The Takers have their own crazy twist on the lo-fi blues rock phenomenon: They have four members! One of them even plays bass! Could this be the future of rock’n’roll ?!? The Takers also seem to favour slightly longer songs than their bluesy brethren, and they’re quite a bit wordier — but they use that extra time to punch out some fine punk blues rave-ups. The one exception is their final track,'White Fuel', which drags a bit. Frontman Mike Carreiro’s doleful voice suits the music and things-done-gone-wrong lyrics; it does seem a little flat at times, but in conjunction with touches like the piano intro on 'Miles Between (What I Said And I Did)' he is vaguely reminiscent of Nick Cave. Michael R. Hibarger provides some suitable trebly guitar, and Chris Keene and Nick Blakey, on drums and bass respectively, are a pummelling rhythm section. To cap things off, the album was recorded at Easley/McCain studios in Memphis, the same place the White Stripes, Porch Ghouls, Reigning Sound and a host of other Sun and Chess inspired raw rockers have laid down tracks. A strong effort.

Track Listing:-

1 One Last Chance
2 Rubber Bullets
3 Between 8 And 9
4 Miles Between (What I Said And What I Did)
5 The Screws
6 The Visit
7 Midnight
8 White Fuel