Album Review: The Ten Foot Polecats - Undertow

We've been following the "punk-blues" of the Ten Foot Polecats for a number of years now and are extremely excited that they finally released a new CD of all original material. This is Undertow; a collection of songs that reminded me why I first started listening to the jump blues of Rod Piazza or Little Charlie & the Nightcats long ago. Pure energy; from the harp, guitar, and drums. Apparently that's all you need. Based out of their native New England, the trio styles there sound further south to the Northern Mississippi hill country.  In the CD you can perceive subtle hints of Son House, Charley Patton, R. L. Burnside, and Mississippi John Hurt. Or in the more contemporary world, the first and third tracks (Do That Thing and Out in the Rain) sound like a combo between The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band and Little Ed & the Blues Imperials.  You know that's an energetic, crazy, fun sound. Fortunately they slowed the pace down in Worried Sick as the opening tracks were almost exhausting - yea I'm getting old. Up next is the title track in which this instrumental also brings a dose of the past sounding like Danny Gatton and his "blazing telecaster". Chilson sure gets a wide array of sound out of his custom made wood box guitar. The remainder of the CD oscillates between this blistering pace to a more melodic slow burner - giving listeners like me a chance to catch their breath.  As you can image, this is a fun CD - pair with a Narragansett Beer and a dance floor.