Joetown Pills and Ammo
by Deb Rao
Staff Writer
New England has long been the haven for good rock talent and having the knack discovering bands before the rest of the world catches on. One true talent that has developed a cult following in the Hartford area is Joetown featuring Joe Delaney who hails from Wallingford. The Connecticut area has that working class vibe that shines on this record. Featuring 11 songs that the masses will identify with Joetown recently released a new album entitled, Pills And Ammo. The album cover has the devilish vibe featuring the singer in a Top hat and Satan red background looking like St. Lucifer himself. The back of the cover features an open bottle of pills that could be reckoned as the downfall of musicians. Are there any bargains with the devil going on here?
Opening track,” Hole In My Soul” sets the vibe for the entire album with its Kid Rock sound alike vocals and hard driving melodies. Second track “Finger” has great guitar riffs in the vein of Leslie West and Mountain. There is no shortage of rocking’ riffs on this album, and the blues vibe is refreshing.
Joetown pays homage to his roots on “Lonely Town Blues”. If you ever lived in Hartford or any small city then you can identify with this song. Well at least Hartford has The Webster Theater and is to close to New York. “LA Tuning” is one of the stand out tracks on this album and has a haunting punkish vibe reminiscent of when music had that dark edge in the punk era. Picture a seedy club in Los Angeles and a band paying their dues, you get the vibe?
Another standout track is “Broken Man” with great finger picking and emotional bluesy vocals. Well, they say you have to live the pain to sing the blues and Joetown surely does on this track!
Pills and Ammo closes on a high note with “My Anger Knows No Bounds” a great driving blues tune, with high-energy vocals. Pills And Ammo captures the emotion of a working class musician striving to break out of the everyday routine! Take a listen and discover one of New England’s best, Joetown before the rest of the world catch on to this great rockin’ hard blues album.
Label: Joetown Records
Track listing
1. Hole In My Soul
2. Finger
3. Lonely Town Blues
4. Crash
5. All My Angels
6. American Alter
7. LA Tuning
8. Devil As Woman
9. Broken Man
10. Tres Mujeres
11. My Anger Knows No Bounds
HRH rating: 8/10