Evocative and restless, simplicity offers a rich palette
The guitar strings pop and tick like a cooling engine, hinting at long drives and endless roaming. The smell of hot blacktop seems to hang in the background of each of Lonesome Shack’s heavy blues cuts on More Primitive, along with an acrid hint of Southern pine. There’s no question that the Seattle trio is a blues revival group; you can hear their reverence for classic moans and foot stomping grooves. While they’ve clearly listened to their share of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Slim Harpo, you can hear the influence of follow-on interpreters like Duane Allman, Billy Gibbons, and Jack White in the mix as well. But unlike the crowded room sound of the Allman Brothers or the electric burn of ZZ Top, Lonesome Shack emulates their bluesman heroes and locks into the simplicity of a shuffling guitar and wavery vocals. While they round out the sound with light bass and a bare-bones rhythm, each song falls into a hypnotic trance of restless guitar vamps.