Chicken Snake - Trouble on my Doorstep

Not sure where this album sits in their trilogy, but here Pauline, Jerry'n'Josh are aided and abetted by Nicholas Ray on guitar and electric piano and Danny Hole on drums. It's more damn good, raw'n'rockin' blues, though.

The opener "Loathsome Blues" is kinda a blend of trashy, early Stones blues while "Hey Man" is a rocker, with some cool guitar interaction - dig the fuzz! "Doctor Doctor" has almost a Bo Diddley feel, with cool dobro, wailin' blues harp and plenty of energy. A circular guitar lick pulls ya into "If the Creek Don't Rise", which has more slippery slide intertwinin' with layers of guitar licks while the drums swing and shake and hold it all together - really terrific mess of swampy noise.

Flip over the vinyl and you get a poppier Dylan number "I Am a Lonesome Hobo" - gotta dig the harmonies on this one! But, they still have some nasty fuzz guitar and shriekin' harp, to give the proceedings some blues. With a nod to the theme to "Land of the Giants", they give us "Chained and Bound", with some psychedelic vibrations in the background of this one, then there's the rockin' Bo Diddley-esque "Hogback Road (Route 666)", that also has some hints of the beginnings of the Rollin' Stones. Serpentine sounds, tremelo'd guitars, some hip noise and a lick reminiscent of "Ballad of a Thin Man" fill out "Alabama Diamondback" and a chooglin' rhythm fires up "Fortune Teller Blues', for a grand finale.

There ain't nothin' that I dislike about this gang - great songs, great playin', great tones - this is some of the best swampy blues that I've heard in ages (right up there with Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil). Get it!