Monday, Dec. 20, 2010
Reverend Raven and the Chain Smokin' Altar Boys
Shake Your Boogie (Nevermore)
The blues band with arguably the best name
in Milwaukee
isn’t out to reinvent or innovate anything on their latest album. That's
perfectly fine, however, as Shake
Your Boogie accomplishes its goal of bringing the party with hearty
soulfulness. Their sound is drawn from their collection of Chess/Checker,
Delmark and Alligator electric blues records, topped with ample dollops of
Big Al Groth's sax, Madison Slim's harmonica and the contributions of a couple
of pianists/organists. Recording before a live audience at the Miramar Theatre
may have amped up the band's energy even more. Remakes of numbers by luminaries
such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk and Hound Dog Taylor make up the
majority of the set's 13 tunes, but the Rev and bassist P.T. Pedersen
aren't slouches in the songwriting department.



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