I will be the first to admin that I am not well versed in the bluesier side of our twangy little genre but I know good shit when I here it and this is good shit! Poor Boy’s Soul is Trevor Jones – a self-described “Full time ramblin’ one man band” – and Burn Down is his debut album and it’s full of nasty, dirty, foot-stompin’ blues. I mean down in the swamp nasty sounding blues. Which is a little strange since the boy is out of Portland, OR. Don’t get me wrong some of my favorite artists are out of Portland but I didn’t expect to find this sort of blues emanating from the Pacific Northwest. This kid has obviously done his homework on the blues and loves what he does.
The whole album seems like a cathartic release that had to be expressed one way or another. You get the feeling that if it hadn’t come out as music there might have been violence involved at some point. Yes there’s that much emotion captured here. There is punk sensibility woven through this music along with some damn fine lyrics. The sheer intensity of this one makes it easy to say it’s Essential Listening but the vocals really put it over the top. The gravel in Trevor’s voice brings to mind Old Crow whiskey, Camel straights and late late nights and does it in all the right ways. Blend that voice with the amazing guitar work and the stomping on the kick-drum and you have music you can lost in. My only complaint is that the album is over too soon.
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