The song-writing does not do the playing justice and doesn’t show what Vargas Blues Band can really do.

Vargas Blues Band are previously known for their great mixture of Blues, Jazz, Latino and Soul. For their latest album ‘Heavy City Blues’, most of that is missing and their sound has gone back to basics which always risks sounding generic and ordinary.

‘Shake Baby Shake’ is not the best start; the guitar and drums encourage a build up but where does it go? It instantly falls flat as vocals arrive – all the charisma from previous albums seems to have disappeared. The lyrics are sub-standard and it brings down the whole song despite the fact that the guitar playing is great; there are no qualms there and the solo is also pretty decent.

This release combines different Rock textures that is, at times, comparable to The Cult with a Blues Brothers impression embedded into the Soul and Blues elements, when they do actually appear. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus’ is akin to TC song ‘Lil’ Devil’ in terms of melody and structure just not performed as well. The lack of hooks and groove that keep the listener interested are non-existent and nothing about it stands out to grab the attention.

‘Searching Love’ brings things back up to scratch with its raw quality and catchy chorus. This one has a late eighties Bon Jovi spirit about it. ‘Back To My Love’ also managed to hit the spot; it’s a Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton infused/influenced instrumental where the guitar is in the spotlight and taking full control.

 As you progress through ‘...Blues’, the album starts to become more influenced by Melodic Rock as opposed to the expected Blues. ‘Love Hurts’ is like Jovi gone wrong because the song-writing is weak again. This evident theme runs throughout the whole album; it just doesn’t include the right ingredients to make great songs. It is the same for ‘Sin City’; with such a song title where is the attitude, the bite or the poison? Come to think about it, where are the Accents and memorable explosions?

Another that truly leaves the aforementioned impression is the one that shouldn’t have been chosen to close the album; ‘Anaconda Style’ is an instrumental that doesn’t know when to stop. Again the guitar playing is amazing, the structure however is not. Imagine a five minute song with no build ups or hesitations and plays with the listener but has no climax, it just ends.

Overall, ‘Heavy City Blues’ does include some Funky guitar riffs that sound like seventies Aerosmith with a ZZ Top rhythm but as we have already discovered, the song-writing does not do the playing justice and doesn’t show what Vargas Blues Band can really do.

Lara Kisel