If you have never heard of this band, its hard to imagine that it’s a twosome with the full sound they seem to generate. The first thing that struck me was the presence of the singer’s voice. To illustrate my initial comprehension, it's like your wife is pregnant, and then she gives birth to triplets. You initial reaction is one of stunned silence, and then you realise, actually this has so many cool implications to it (if you are slightly sick and twisted like myself).
The opening track Voodoo Doll is a corker, straight away I resonated with the sharp drum beat and blues style guitar. My feet uncontrollably attached themselves to the rhythm and refused to stop even after a stiff evil eye, obviously they have an ear for good music. The second song Swamp Thing held nothing back, my feet were straight back into a tap, this time with gusto and meaning. This song had a very swamp rock feel to it much like Creedence Clearwater Revival from the late 1960’s. Of which I pay much homage too without much persuasion.
Bumping & Grinding, Hand in a Hole and Genius have a similar feel to the two opening songs, which by no means is a bad thing. The Reckoning brings a more dirty, heavy change to the album, and this listener embraced this with passion, I especially like how the singers voice really compliments all styles the two bring to the table. Strung Out has a nice change of mellow pace, that brings the listener down to a swinging crescendo, only to be brought back up through a Jimi Hendrix influenced Hot Potato for those of you up on the popular culture of the 90’s I almost believed the NWO were coming through the curtains on an episode of Nitro with the opening funk chords on the electric guitar.
The album is rounded off nicely with a fairy tale ending Come With Me when I see this band live, if they play this song, I will not be able to control myself, its trance like dreaminess will mean I’ll probably follow them, until the ends of the earth.
I really like this album, its one that will definitely sit in my IPod for a very long time. Both these guys should be very proud of what they have produced, not only artistically but also musically considering they are a two man band.
A definite buy for all music lovers.
They're the two left in the juke joint when the hurricane's about to make landfall, when the revelers have gone home, sweat-soaked and exhausted. The bulbs are blown out, the floor's full of glass, but two men are honor bound to keep playing, pouring their sweat into the parched earth like libation. In the best traditions of two man blues and roots, Swamp Thing is a duo that you know are playing to stay alive.
A former member of The John Butler Trio, Michael Barker (drums/ percussion/ KeyBass/Vocals) formed the two man blues/roots duo Swamp Thing with Grant Haua vocals/guitar in 2010.
These two unique musicians share a wealth of experience to craft blues- flavoured music with a deep groove and soulful spook. Their first studio album Balladeer was recorded at Roundhead studios in may 2011 and their second album Primordium recorded at Barker's studio Twisty Pole in 2012 was released in January 2013.