Little Barrie--Stand Your Ground

All fans of jam bands, Traffic, Cream, jazz-rock, blues-rock, and even Led Zeppelin and Hendrix listen up: Little Barrie is playing for you. A warm modern-day jam band, Little Barrie follow-up their We Are Little Barrie 2005 debut with Stand Your Ground, a slow-moving album of excellently vintage guitar work, easy-going lyrics, and a classic attitude. Songs such as "Love You" and "Pin That Badge" immediately evoke memories of Cream, Traffic, and other classic ‘60s jam bands. Little snippets of a guitar riff here or vocal croon there remind one of Hendrix’s guitar style and Led Zeppelin’s heavy blues roots. "Green Eyed Fool" could divert into a Stooges song from the overly distorted Iggy-like intro, but quickly declares (by use of a scratchy vintage guitar solo in the spirit of The Eagles) that Little Barrie is firmly rooted in the classics of yesteryear. Song after song provide new jams, each with simple lyrics but wonderfully diverse guitar work. Indeed, most of the album is Little Barrie’s superb instrumental work, establishing a groovy beat backbone and laying intricate lacings of guitar work over the top like sonic icing on a cake. The guitar solos in "Why Don’t You Do It?" smash Clapton, Page, and Hendrix into one. While it may not be as good (and what could be better than a Clapton-Page-Hendrix guitar beast?), it sure is refreshing to hear this sort of music played so well nowadays. Little Barrie have put together an excellent album for anyone who enjoys the sound of a scratchy vintage guitar cranking out a good ‘60s jam.

(Published at ComfortComes.com)