Soledad Brothers

AMG Review of Soledad Brothers

Stephen Howell
All Music Guide

Guitarist/vocalist Johnny Walker presents a faux southern minister's drawl for much of the record, and while some of the tracks become repetitive ("Gospel According to John"), they are saved by Walker's Delta bluesman-derived style of fingerpicking between the bass and treble strings on his guitar. This helps to fill out the bass-less sound of the duo. Drummer Ben Swank keeps his playing straightforward for much of the record, adding fills only where they're needed ("Front St. Front," "Gimme Back My Wig"). Swank also knows where to add feeling and depth, such as on "The Weight of the World," where he only accents the first beat of every measure with his drums for the first half of the song until the tension builds and the full drum kit enters. Walker and Swank also manage to sound like a more threatening and haunting version of the "Play With Fire"-era Rolling Stones on tracks like "Mysterious Ways" and "Handle Song." This is a raw album that should be well liked by fans of the British Invasion and blues artists such as John Lee Hooker and Honeyboy Edwards.