Left Lane Cruiser Wash it Brass Rail 7, 23, 10

LLC is another twopiece gritty, raw, dirty blues outfit but the depth of sound they bring is unreal. First you have Freddy J IV (Joe) on guitar and hoarse, screamed vocals. All too often people talk about smoke and whiskey ripped throats, but in the case of Freddy J IV, his vocal cords appear to be held together by only a few sinewy strands. People always talk about emcees being hungry on verses, well, in this case I think Joe is thirsty. He rips through the tracks, giving every ounce of sweat and energy he has, in a Southern Pavlovian response. It s like he knows the minute the track finishes, he can catch his breath and pound a shot. I can picture him tossing the glassware across the studio, wiping his brow and signaling to Brenn to start up again. It doesn t matter that they are in the studio not on stage, he treats the recordings like a performance; live, rugged and adrenaline, whiskey fueled. Joe is backed up by Brenn. While he is listed as the drummer, Brenn is much, much more. He po