Blues rock is certainly not a strict USA only affair. As it turns out, even some young white dudes from Germany know a thing or two about it. So please welcome the trio that are the Marius Tilly Band. With Marius being the singer and guitar player and he is supported by Benjamin Opperman on bass and Maximilian Wastl on drums. But they cheated a little and invited some guests for extra guitars and keyboards. All to please us, the listeners!
First song Mr. Mule struck me as a pop song disguised as a medium tempo blues track. And that pop feeling kept creeping up throughout the album. So strictly speaking, this might turn out to be a much to simplistic and commercial album for purists. But that would be a shame, as I think the guys have come up with some excellent ideas anyway. A track like Out Of These Days is beautiful with a smooth bass line and some exquisite strat tones supporting the emotion charged vocals. Speaking of stratocaster, great sound mister Tilly! A track like Sometimes is a lot more bluesy in approach, and in some strange way reminded me of Steely Dan a bit, but that ain´t a bad reference no matter how you look at it.
So there you go, for someone who is not that keen on blues, I found this a pleasure to listen to, probably because of the influences from outside the genre. Give them a try!
