John Mooney - Against the Wall (CD)

All Music Guide

Mooney is one of a handful of younger blues players who has forged his own style, a jarring juxtaposition of angular Delta guitar and funky New Orleans backbeats. He explores the dark sides of those traditions in Against the Wall, a harrowing and stark work. Mooney's voice and guitar, both quivering, conjure up the image of a lost soul at a Delta crossroads at midnight; his shadowy bass- and-drum rhythm section evokes the ominous powers of voodoo. Standouts include "Sacred Ground," awhich opens the set, and "Somebody Been Missing Somebody (2 Long)," which closes it. On "Late on in the Evening," a mournful blues about a marital breakup, if the verse about his little boy begging him not to go doesn't get you, the stinging, Muddy Waters-style slide guitar break surely will. Very minimalist production throughout illustrates the principle that, in roots music, less equals more.

- Steve Hoffman, All Music Guide