Album, Single and EP Reviews


 

 

  Red Light Fever by Lady Mercedes


Red Light Fever cover art

Artist: Lady Mercedes
Title: Red Light Fever
Catalogue Number: Fat Hippy Records
Review Format: CD
Release Year: 2004



If I didn't know better, I'd swear that Aberdeen had a swamp; there is no
other place that Lady Mercedes could have been born. Starting well with
a groove and riff vaguely reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and a voice that Steve Tyler would be proud of, these guys slither their way out of your speakers and demand that you shake that thang!

The relaxed strut of "Shotgun Revolution", with its stumbling riffing, breaks down into a simple down-home southern blues guitar riff with some truly righteous harp playing. Showing that these guys aren't a one trick pony, "Hey Lady Hey" has beautifully simple four-to-the-floor percussion and an acoustic riff straight out of the Stones' hey-day.

The interplay of two loose rhythm guitars combined with a naturally grooving, melodic bass built on a solid back beat makes this a band to pay attention to. Harking more from English seventies' rock and psychedelia than the Black Crowes did and although far more funky than the Quireboys, it is a shame that these guys weren't around 18 years ago when that kinda retro cool reared its head. Mind you, everything comes in cycles, so let's hope these muthas are ahead of the game this time 'round!

The only let down are the somewhat puerile lyrics that make a Kevin Smith script seem like Shakespeare. While this Bluesbunny has never thought that rock & roll and poetry mix, I did find stereotypical lyrics like "She loves the cock, she wolfs it up" and "I sampled her flower for roughly an hour, but I said no to a golden shower" which pepper the CD, a bit of a let down.

This is an album full of filthy, funky rock & roll harking back to the days when the Twins were still Toxic and Rod Stewart wasn't trying to reinvent himself as the new Sinatra. Get some beers, some gumbo, stick this CD into your player and have a party!


www.ladymercedes.co.uk
Reviewer:
Review Date: August 13 2007