This six-track record from Philadelphia duo Blues Control is split down the middle. The first three songs are peculiarly captivating, making an odd, icy meld of Santana’s latin jazz rhythms and show-pony guitar solos with the avant-rock atmospherics of The Duratti Column. The first half is so gripping it takes time to realise you’re un-clutched by the last half of meandering, piano- lead jams that enact their voodoo far more indifferently.
Throughout, Blues Control keep the door flung wide to the willful experimentation that buoys the album – ‘Iron Pigs’, for example, revs off with a sound like a distressed starter motor. And it’s refreshing to hear piano – at times fresh and tinkling, at times bassy and ominous – instead of keyboard.
[Rating: 3.5]
Blues Control “Love’s A Rondo” from Drag City on Vimeo.
