here is the NFO file from Dime
Punk blues duo LEFT LANE CRUISER have teamed up in Detroit with JAMES LEG
(BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES keyboardist and howler) for an album of incendiary cover tunes
(Junior Kimbrough, Bob Seger, Hound Dog Taylor, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, and more!).
They are joined by Jim Diamond on bass, with 66 year old bluesman Harmonica Shah on harp, and the result is just what the doctor ordered, a hard-rocking gritty album to beat the blues!
http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/review-painkillers-by-left-lane-cruiser-james-leg
Albums of cover songs too often fail to impress, since the versions, if not carbon copies of the originals, are usually poorly done. Of course, that is not always the case, and it certainly isn’t so with the new Alive Naturalsound Records release, “Painkillers,” a collaborative effort between members of two of today’s more notable two-piece bands, guitarist and singer Fredrick “Joe” Evans IV and drummer Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck of Left Lane Cruiser and keys specialist and vocalist John Wesley Myers (aka James Leg) of Black Diamond Heavies. Firstly, the reworkings of the songs reflect the distinct sounds of the artists covering them, giving each one a little something new. And second, the artists managed to put together a pretty great selection of cover songs.
In addition to Evans, Beck and Leg, the skills of two other artists were employed to round out the material on “Painkillers” — music producer, studio engineer and musician Jim Diamond on bass, and seasoned bluesman Harmonica Shah on harp. And there is definitely some chemistry there.
As far as the songs they chose to cover, the album opens with the gritty and hard-hitting Sad Days Lonely Nights by the great Junior Kimbrough. After that they go into a lively rendition of Hound Dog Taylor’s She’s Gone. Other than their cover of Robert Johnson’s Ramblin’ On My Mind, those two are my favorites on the album. That’s not to say that the other songs aren’t of the same quality; they are all damn good, in fact. Among them are Red Rooster by W. Dixon, If 6 Was 9 by Jimi Hendrix, and Shake It by John Lee Hooker. Definitely the sort of songs one would expect from such highly regarded blues rock artists as the ones involved with this particular album.
Through the ten songs on “Painkillers” one hears plenty of Evans’ dirty, electric slide guitar and gravelly vocals, Beck’s mighty percussion, and Leg’s prowess on the keys and soulful vocals as coarse as P12 sandpaper and deep as a natural chasm. And Jim Diamond’s bass playing and guitar solo and Harmonica Shah’s wicked harp add quite a bit.
Get your copy of “Painkillers” by Left Lane Cruiser & James Leg directly from the Alive Records website. Or get one at one of Left Lane Cruiser’s upcoming shows. And enjoy!
http://www.allmusic.com/album/painkillers-mw0002370065
In case you wondered whatever became of the tradition of the blues jam, it was alive and kicking for a few days in Detroit when raw and rootsy guitar-and-drum duo Left Lane Cruiser headed into a recording studio with James Leg, the keyboard player and vocal howler from the Black Diamond Heavies, to lay down a set of high-octane cover tunes. Producer Jim Diamond sat in on bass and Harmonica Shah stopped by to blow some harp, and the result is Painkillers, a loud and rowdy collection of bluesy wailing for the 21st century. Like plenty of bands on the punk-blues axis, both Left Lane Cruiser and James Leg approach their music with the ferocity of a starving dog that’s been tossed a bloody steak, and if you’re looking for anything approaching subtlety, Painkillers is not for you. But the musicians on this date all seem to be on the same page — they want to get loud and boogie like they’re expecting to be taken to jail in the morning, and for a makeshift band, these performances are surprisingly tight and emphatic. Leg’s trademark “Tom Waits with a sore throat” growl is as over-the top as it’s always been, but in this context, it suits the material just fine, and his swirling organ and thickly distorted electric piano are rich and satisfying, while the manic slide guitar of Frederick “Joe” Evans IV and hard-stomping drumming of Brenn Beck are as greasy as a good burger and just as tasty. Diamond’s rock-solid bass work and full-bodied engineering is just the right icing on this particular cake, as are the primal harp blasts from Harmonica Shah, and if the set list — a list of blues and blues-rock standards ranging from Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin — isn’t especially imaginative, these guys attack like the best sort of bar band, and the version of Bob Seger’s “Come to Poppa” suggests they were embracing the Detroit experience to the fullest. Painkillers suggests an overdriven, punk-infused variation on Canned Heat’s old formula, and if they’re never going to get to cut an album with John Lee Hooker, at least they have the good sense to see that their boogie isn’t endless, and for 35 minutes, this is a house party worth a visit.
1
Sad Days Lonely Nights
Junior Kimbrough
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
3:18
2
She’s Gone
Hound Dog Taylor
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
3:12
3
Come to Poppa
Willie Mitchell / Earl Randle
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
3:50
4
Red Rooster
Willie Dixon
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
2:55
5
If 6 Was 9
Jimi Hendrix
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
3:47
6
Shake It
John Lee Hooker
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
5:20
7
Ramblin’ on My Mind
Robert Johnson
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
2:55
8
Chevrolet
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
2:33
9
When the Levee Breaks
John Bonham / John Paul Jones / Memphis Minnie / Jimmy Page / Robert Plant
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
4:24
10
Sway
Mick Jagger / Keith Richards
Left Lane Cruiser / James Leg
3:22