THE BACKSLIDERS – STARVATION BOX

Sydney three piece “Delta Blues Wall of Sound” The Backsliders have released an album every couple of years since the late 80’s and Starvation Box is the 2011 version. They’ve been doing Blues and Roots long before it was hip or cool. Guitar, harmonica and minimalist percussion including washboards. A dialed back  sound and feel. There could be a little bit of a Neil Young influence here too. Unfortunately they are not as effective; the melodies are too repetitive, simple and pedestrian – that is within each song and across the whole recording – and the rhyming is elementary and predictable. The Backsliders have had critical acclaim with their 1999 album Poverty Deluxe. They also featured on soundtracks for the ABC series Sea Change. It’s not that Blues and Roots can’t be an interesting and exiting genre, it most certainly can, but not here. The Backsliders have proven to be survivors on the harsh Sydney music scene, but this isn’t their best moment.

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