Written by Phil Cooper
January 2019 sees Zed reissue the now out of print ‘Desperation Blues’. Working alongside label Ripple Music, the re-release sees not only the original tracks brought forward but also a number of earlier demos. The hard rocking, blues driven four-piece independently released ‘Desperation Blues’ in 2013 and have been bringing their sound to the masses since 2007. What can established fans and new comers alike expect from this revamp of what is considered a standout album from Zed’s catalogue?
If you’re new to the band, ‘Desperation Blues’ is a great slice of hard rock from the bay area. Delivering a weighty punch of blues laced distorted guitar riffs, head down no-nonsense rhythms and raw vocals. Opening number ‘Please’ has a groove powered drum beat with accompanying bass line introducing the track before the guitars and vocals kick in to thicken out the texture. The gritty guitar tone punches through and growling vocals sit on top of the mix. It’s a stripped back sound that still manages to hit the listener hard. Moving into ‘Skin + Bones’ the groove ups in tempo and the texture remains thick giving the listener a wall of rock ‘n’ roll sound driven by the guitar riff. It’s no surprise that Zed have chosen to release a video of this track in preparation for the album. It showcases not only their musicianship but also the song writing of the band. The dynamics shift, falling away for the breakdown in order to build back up again for the conclusion, all the while the power of the band never lets up and each instrument has its own discernible place within the track.
The title track is a more laid-back affair with an almost blues funk like quality. The full band comes in together at the intro before the dynamics of the instrumentation shift down a gear allowing the vocals to lead the way. The break downs provide a punch to accentuate between verse and chorus sections. With the vocals being growled along to wah-wah guitar riffs there’s an extra gritty and gutsy edge the dirty funk of ‘Desperation Blues’. ‘Crawl Back To You’ continues with the laid-back vibe, not as funky as the previous track, but a western style clean guitar line forms the foundation of the song and brief instrumental build ups puncture the steady melody line giving some extra sonic interest.
Closing track ‘The River’ features an epic instrumental for its introduction. Powerful blues rock drumming lays the foundation accompanied by a funk laced bass line. The guitar work over the top features a number of different techniques including well executed tremolo picking and heavy palm muted power chords. When the vocals kick in, none of the original power and aggression of the instrumentation is lost, it just folds around the vocals and the whole track lifts into a full band jam. The guitar solo is washed with a wah-wah pedal and is perfectly fitting with the chopped riff. The vocals grow with intensity, howling out the last words of the track as the final guitar solo leads to a fade out of feedback. A fitting close to an excellent hard rock album.
It’s the second part of the release that will interest the older fans of the band more as it features demos from their initial debut offering, ‘The Invitation’. The final five tracks offer an insight into how the band have developed their sound to end up with what has become Zed today. Not to mention the fact that a reissue of an album makes an original copy more collectable. Whether new to the band or not, the reissue of ‘Desperation Blues’ offers something for everyone, if nothing else its great that high quality rock ‘n’ roll is going to continue to be more readily available.
- ‘Desperation Blues’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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