05 September 2011

CUBAN HEELS - Gritbag


 As far as I can tell these guys hail from Bristol, England. The bio info is lacking, dudes. You're too good to let that slide.  
That said, I appreciate that this is The Cuban Heels auto-tweet message:  omg best album ever  because they ain't half wrong. 

This is one of the bonuses of the popularity of The Black Keys and White Stripes ( not that I equate the two. Between the 'Stones and the Beatles, I'd pick the 'Stones .)  Bands are feeling that blues and soul groove again. Hell, even the BKs use a bass player, now. We've been, to a large extent, grooveless since punk rock.  Sure that's overstating a bit but to a large extent The BKs brought the groove back.  The Stripes brought back a bit of the world boogie blues abandon that we hadn't hardly had since Nirvana. Little Walter, Otis Redding, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters, is their base and they bring a punk rock energy to hard blues without insulting either genre.

Bands like The Cuban Heels, The Bonnevilles, Mudlow, Collard Greens and Gravy, and others are administering the soul vaccination that the foremothers, fathers, sisters and brothers delivered. Each of these bands is making an almost noir kind of Blues. It's shadowy and dark, stylish, smart, and grimey. Just the way I like it. The Cuban Heels are Dirty Sexy Pub Soul Blues.  Put 'em on:

Cuban Heels - Believe I'm Goin' Down: mp3
Cuban Heels - Over The Moon : mp3

Like I said, I don't know much about The Cuban Heels butI do know they get down.  If the label gives me a holler i'll happily repost additional info. If you want yr soul power rockin', you gotta check out The Cuban Heels:



2 comments:

tjaptjap said...

Here some info on Cuban Heels;

Holland based Cuban Heels.
Influences range from blues greats such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter, through soul legends as Otis Redding and Ray Charles to garage rockers as The Stooges and The Sonics. The latter two mainly to give an impression about the raw energy of the band. Although all three Cuban Heels albums have been receiving raving reviews, third album “Gutbucket Music” can be seen as their ultimate so far.A dazzling album full of blues grooves, pre-war gospel and funky swamprock that shows that the band can easily compete with the best in blues, or garage blues, as some tend to call it.

A Cuban Heels gig is a lot more than the average blues show. Appealing to an audience ranging from youngsters to the older, more traditional bluesfan, the band gives all they got and has left audiences breathless at renowned festivals as the North Sea Jazz, Moulin Blues and Belgian Rhythm & Blues Festival. Heartfelt soulful vocals, ferocious guitar, killer harp and a rhythm section as tight as possible, that’s Cuban Heels. Definitely one of the best European blues bands around and an act not to be missed.

Band members
Jan Hidding – vocals
Rico Gerfen – guitars
Richard Koster – harmonica
Arnoud van den Berg – upright bass / bass guitar
Chiel ten Vaarwerk – drums

Albums
Gutbucketmusic (Cool Buzz, 2006, CLBZ 19)
Morphine Mama (Cool Buzz, 2002, CLBZ 13)
Sweet and Lowdown (Cool Buzz, 2001, CLBZ 8)

Berni said...

These guys cook! I bought everything they have available on emusic and have been telling all my friends to check them out.