Big Wolf Band - 2023 - Live & Howlin'

(76:26; Big Wolf Records)

Track list:
1. Heaven's Got the Blues 3:50
2. Done Wrong by You 4:06
3. I Don't Love You 4:10
4. Looking in Your Eyes 3:54
5. Love That Hurts 3:37
6. Better Man 3:33
7. Walk in My Shoes 3:44
8. If I Ever Loved Another Woman 7:05
9. Just Can't Find You 9:30
10. Never That Easy 4:06
11. Roling with Thunder 3:35
12. Get Out 3:58
13. Love Isn't Free 4:32
14. Darkest of My Days 6:40

Line-up:
Jonathan Earp - vocals, guitars
Mick Jeynes - bass
Justin Johnson - guitars, vocals
Tim Jones - drums
Robin Fox - keyboards


UK outfit Big Wolf Band have been a going entity in the UK music scene for the better part of a decade, with two studio albums to their name and what I suspect is a decent number of live performances to boot. This latter aspect of the band's repertoire has now been captured with the release of the album "Live & Howlin", which was self released in the spring of 2023.

Big Wolf Band is a unit that is all about blues rock. It won't take more than a few seconds before that is settled as a fact, and they don't deviate all that much from this style of music throughout the set that has been captured here.

Blues rock can of course be a lot of different things, and this band flirts with a few different incarnations of the style here. The most prominent aspect of the style that we are served is one that contain some boogie elements and a bit of a southern rock drive, and some of the most compelling tracks on this live album explore this style with a suitable drive that tends to feature playful piano details, loose and fuzzy but vibrant guitar riffs and occasionally some funky licks too, as well as the organ adding some nice harmony overlays to the proceedings. We also get some cuts that revolve a bit more around an Americana flavored variety of the blues rock, with less of a boogie drive and a lessened southern rock feel but with a few Country touches added to the proceedings. As befits a blues rock band we also get a few instances of material closer to the original blues here, but explored in what I presume the blues connoisseurs would describe as an electric blues orientation. The set ends with a bit more of a contemporary styled creation, with a floating keyboard presence replacing the organ for a somewhat different feel from the rest of the songs of this live performance.

With driving rockers, songs exploring an ebb and flow structure between the delicate parts and the more energetic sequences as well as a small handful of ballad oriented affairs, this set gives us a fairly full spectrum of different songs to enjoy.  There is an ebb and a flow to the performance as such, with some energetic cuts followed by a slow down into gentler landscapes before a new burst of energy kicks off. Which does give this live experience a nice organic feel as well as giving the more energetic songs an extra kick when the band returns to those waters.

The more important bit for a live album is, of course, that all the different varieties of the songs are executed in a compelling manner. And it seems the boys in the band had a really good night when this set was recorded, as everything is on point here. The vocals are strong, the guitar solo runs are compelling, the energetic songs manage to convey the energy and the gentler escapades provide the gentler emotions and delicate details in a good manner. We get the drive of ZZ Top and the feel of Robin Trower, and occasionally the grit of Molly Hatchet too. Some cuts come across as slightly more enthralling than others, but in this case this is solely down to personal taste in music rather than any difference in the quality of the performances. This is quite plainly a solid set, with plenty of moments of brilliance.

There are many good live albums by blues rock bands out there, and "Live and Howlin" is another one to add to that list of live productions that comes across as solid and worthwhile, and a production that should appeal beyond the regular blues rock crowd too due to the enthralling nature of the music and the quality of the live performance combining into quite the compelling total experience. If you love blues rock then this album needs to be given a listen, if you are interested in the style and want to inspect a good live album of the genre then this one should fulfill that criteria quite nicely indeed. Obviously, this is a live album that comes with my recommendations.

Olav M. Björnsen, April 2023

Links:
https://www.bigwolfband.com/