Monday, July 25, 2011



Dave Arcari – Devils Left Hand (Buzz Records).

The eponymous title track is not as manic as he has been known to be in the past. This is more deliberate and his Scots accent comes over all the more heavily. Is this a ploy to gain more fans from the less hardcore group, whilst keeping his Scottish fans? Can’t Be Satisfied is an oldie re-done. It is still edgy and you just feel that danger is just lurking beneath the surface. Controlled aggression seems to be Dave’s approach now. The sedate Devil’s Deal has Arcari’s trademark guitar and he goes off in the Robert Burns direction not for the first time on MacPherson’s Lament – Scottish blues – ye cannae whack it! Blue Train is a country/blues crossover with a guttural vocal from Arcari but he’s back to a more standard blues with the laid back Trouble In Mind and Robert Johnson’s Come On In My Kitchen. However, nothing is really standard when Dave is about and the latter gets the full Arcari treatment and this makes it so different from most of the versions of this often covered song that you’ll hear. Cotton On My Back is the type of song that Dave Arcari does so well. It’s a simple melody which is well played. Hangman’s Blues has an echoed vocal to open with but that soon fades into a full sound with the story told from two points of view. One Side Blind is another oldie and listening to some of these old Radiotones songs brings me to the conclusion that not all of them are successful as solo efforts. Perhaps a return to the band to add different levels to the music for a while and maybe a new Radiotones release would be a good idea. Texicali Waltz is a true waltz, and a quick one at that! This is inneuendo laden and more like the old Arcari although he does give us a chorus here, not something you get too often. He closes with Dragonfly and he stays in his old style, loud, brash and dangerous. This has almost prehistoric sounds and the stomping blues is an excellent finish which leaves you gasping for more.

http://www.davearcari.com/
http://www.thebuzzgroup.co.uk/

David Blue.

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