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Bob Log III - My [Exclamation] Is Perfect
latest release far from perfect |
Review by Tony Bonyata It's taken the enigmatic one-man-blues-band Bob Log III an astonishing six years to follow-up the jaw-dropping surprise of his 2003 Fat Possum Records release Log Bomb. I suppose we should cut this Tucson-based oddball a little slack, however, because since then he's been touring over 150 shows a year throughout more than 30 countries. Not bad for a guy who doesn't even show his face on stage, instead preferring the unusual garb of a motorcycle with a microphone fashioned inside it, along with a shiny full-bodied cannonball-man jumpsuit.As enjoyable as his primitive, raunchy unique hybrid of rural Delta blues was when I first heard Log Bomb, I also doubted how long the schtick of a horny guitar player in a motorcycle helmet playing with himself could last. Well, onstage it may last for years to come as he's still able to whip dancers and music lovers into a frenzy with little more than an acoustic slide guitar, kick drum, black-snake-moan vocals and an available knee for females in the audience to jump on, but as his latest full-length My [Exclamation] Is Perfect proves, Log is definitely a one-trick pony, albeit one that no one has ever come close to saddling before. On the whole, this effort still has the unmistakable raw blues sound that've made fans out of the likes of Tom Waits, Robert Plant and other well known musicians The only problem is Log seems to be merely re-treading what he's previously done on record - only the blues riffs sound safer, the passion less fiery and the jokes a lot less funny. While the record still does have it's merit and appeal, if you're a fan of Log's previous work then your dollars would be better spent seeing his one-of-kind live show when it comes to town than plunking it down for this less-than-perfect album. |