The Cactus Blossoms Easy Way (CD)

(Walkie Talkie Records) 10 titres, digisleeve

The Cactus Blossoms est le groupe du duo de frères Page Burkum et Jack Torrey de Minneapolis, aux États-Unis. Ils reviennent dans le monde de la musique avec leur nouvel album Easy Way. L'album est une collection autoproduite de dix nouvelles chansons, ils le sortent sur leur propre label Walkie Talkie Records.

Avec les contributions spéciales de Dan Auerbach et du célèbre saxophoniste Michael Lewis (Bon Iver, Andrew Bird), Easy Way contient de nombreux rebondissements créatifs, de belles harmonies et un son presque intemporel. Ce disque est le premier nouvel album depuis la sortie de You're Dreaming en 2016.

Les fans attendent avec impatience la suite depuis que Cactus Blossoms a percé en 2016, en tournée avec Kacey Musgraves et Lucius et en se produisant sur des scènes prestigieuses, de Newport Folk au Lincoln Center. Ils peuvent également être vus dans la 3e saison de la série à succès de David Lynch, Twin Peaks.

Cactus

Originally cast as a super group, Cactus were the brainchild of Long Island boys Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, two ferociously talented players who had cut their musical teeth in psychedelic heavies Vanilla Fudge with Atlantic records in the late sixties. Their original plan began to subside when Jeff Beck's expected involvement was compromised by an automobile accident, which as a result would put him out of action for over a year. Bogert and Appice looked closer to home for a trusted addition to the rhythm section recruiting Rusty Day from the Amboy Dukes taking on lead vocals and Jim McCarty of (Mitch Ryder and the) Detroit Wheels taking Beck's place to provide a menacing and prominent lead guitar. Although the band never enjoyed the level of commercial success its pedigree may suggest, Cactus were nonetheless hugely respected by other musicians. Addressing a small invited audience in Ultra Sonic Studios in their native Long Island, the band plunged into their past three albums delivering a blitzkrieg, pronouncing their affection for boogie with an electrifying demeanour.

Launching into a fiery take on Evil with McCarty's guitar licks ripping any lingering ambience to shreds, a dominant blues spectacular is only tormented by furious bursts of fuzz guitar which offer their own testament alongside the thundering bass of Tim Bogert. The heavy riffing of Oleo threatens the more harmonic Bro Bill, but the blues return to tease with a grinding rendition of No Need To Worry with Carmine Appice taking up guitar. Cactus exhibit everything you'd desire from a rock band in 1971 and having even tackled their new single Token Chokin', a friendly blues number from the Restrictions album that was rarely performed live, the band were richly applauded by a galvanized audience. Cactus were in their home territory both geographically and musically expending boogie workouts with blues jams on songs such as the show closer Big Mama Boogie (parts 1 & 2).

The pulse of the rhythm section commanded a momentum that Rusty Day tackled easily, such was the vigour of the Amboy Dukes' vocal prowess and if a performance of this immensity could be summarised in one word, there hasn't yet been one invented that could describe the intensity and profound reverence inspired by this performance. This performance also signalled the closure of a chapter in the Cactus story with McCarty and Day leaving shortly after this and before recording took place for the fourth album Ot' `AI Sweaty in 1972. Ironically, both Boget and Appice would finally join with their intended accomplice Jeff Beck to form the super group Beck, Bogert, and Appice. Klondike has captured a unique facet of heavy blues•rock with the WLIR•FM broadcast recorded at Ultra Sonic Studios in Long Island, January 1971. Exposing a robust powerhouse performance delivered from a profoundly underrated band who given their lack of reflective prose and melodic depth, held all the goodies in the bag with the amps turned up high.