Sunday, February 14, 2010


Popa Chubby – The Fight Is On (Provogue Records).

This is Popa Chubby’s first release in two years and he says that this is blues rock for the people. He started out with some cool riffs and a house full of vintage guitars and The Fight Is On and a transfer to the superb Provogue Records is the result. The eponymous opener is pure Popa, gritty subject matter and top detuned guitar. The pulsating, anthemic We Got Some Rocking To Do is standard fare but Locked In A Memory harks back to the best rock ballads of the 70s. Popa says that he thinks that this has some of his best guitar work to date and I’m not about to argue. One hearing of his scintillating Les Paul confirms his thoughts. He goes all Motown on The Right Time!! This could easily have been a Temptations or Four Tops song. Rock & Roll Is My Religion is another standard mid-paced rock offering and Greedy For Gold attacks you on two levels -- fast and ultra fast.

NYC 1977 Till is Popa’s homage to Lou Reed as he intertwines Walk On The Wild Side with his own words. He rocks out on Holes and Steelhorse Serenade is a strong instrumental with the man on top form. It’s Over has Popa at his brooding best before ZZ Top come to mind on Wicked Wanda and he wraps the whole thing up with a storming version of Ace Of Spades.

Love him or hate him, you certainly can’t ignore him!

http://www.popachubby.com/
http://www.provoguerecords.com/
David Blue

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