The latest album from Delta Generators, ON & ON, drops on May 22. Delta Generators have been around since 2008, releasing six albums, playing regional venues, and building a loyal fan base. Their sound has been described as a swampy blend of blues, R&B, and Americana with raw rock energy.
ON & ON is a more focused blend of Texas roadhouse and Mississippi juke joint raw grit, intensely greased up with a lot of slide guitar and powerful harmonica leads. With that blending of Southern sounds, it may be surprising to learn that founding brothers Charlie O’Neal (guitar) and Rick O’Neal (bass) come out of the Boston music scene, with tenures in bands like Benjamin Orr’s band and alongside Johnny A. Rounding out the four-piece band are Jeff Armstrong on drums and Brian Templeton on vocals and harmonica. Templeton, a veteran of the Boston blues scene and former frontman of The Radio Kings, replaced original vocalist Craig Rawding after the band’s fourth album, Hipshakers and Heartbreakers, in 2016.
As a band, they have shared stages with Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Walter Trout, Sonny Landreth, Johnny Winter, and Three Dog Night. They have also appeared on Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea, building a more global following along the way. Their website describes their approach as “Real music by real people, played live and recorded live.” This mantra is lived out in the recording process for ON & ON. The entire album was written, arranged, and rehearsed in eight days, then recorded literally “live to tape” in two days at Power Station New England by Evan Bakke, who has collaborated with Prince and Warren Haynes.
That minimalized approach gives ON & ON a very grounded, rustic feel, like you are in a dark bar lit only by neon beer signs and dusty bulbs, until the opening track “I Got You” electrifies the setting with its crescendo opening into a toe-tapping beat. Its possessive mantra is the perfect opener for an album or a live set. It is also the first single released and a tone-setter for the rest of the album. The following tracks cover various real-world themes, all served with a thick, greasy layer of rock and blues. The second single, “Mr. Vain,” a slow, rhythmic, and interesting take on vanity, is already getting some streaming traction. “Poker Face,” with its cool, greasy slide guitar, and the harmonica-led toe-tapper “Mr. C” spin tales of seedy characters we all hope to avoid. “Little Rat” is a stripped-back, almost a cappella junkyard rhyme about a poor fool who crosses those seedy characters. “Deep State of Mind” is a fun track with an interesting theme around “deep state” paranoia framed in a fast-paced rockabilly-style rant.
However, ground zero for blues themes has always been affairs of the heart, or just plain lust, and ON & ON does not disappoint. “Bet” has a swampy waltz feel that leads into a slow, thick solo with the refrain, “you better bet on me.” “Ginny Mae” is a Chicago blues thumper about that one girl you want who seems to be everywhere. “Strength in Numbers” tells a humorous, harmonica-led, toe-tapping tale about her “crew.” “Never Again” is a slide-oozing piece of self-talk we can all relate to. The longest tracks on the album are a pair of rockers. “Drone” laments being on the wrong end of a domineering relationship with a thick, swampy beat and haunting harmonica reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s version of “When The Levee Breaks.” “Baby Bomb” is a heavy, semi-psychedelic grinder about an “explosive” temperament that may be my favorite track on the album.
The album also has a trio of short tracks, each less than a minute long, that are not labeled as intros but have interesting placement in the track sequence with their titles. “Button” precedes “Poker Face,” a song about a gun for hire. “Hernan’s Stomp” precedes “Mr. C,” a song about a leader of nefarious characters, and “Fuse” fittingly precedes “Baby Bomb.” Intentional or not, it is a fun quirk on a thoroughly enjoyable album.
Guitarist Charlie O’Neal noted that the record “perfectly captures the live spirit of the band.” They certainly will not have to figure out how any of the tracks work on a live stage.
ON & ON is a fun listen that puts you on a creaky, uncomfortable bar stool or a dusty, crowded dance floor, simply enjoying gritty blues rock as it was meant to be heard, with a sense of gritty realism that is often absent from studio recordings. Delta Generators bottled that into a record that feels alive from the very first note.
The Review: 8/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– Baby Bomb
– Mr. Vain
– Drone
– Strength in Numbers
– Deep State of Mind
– Ginny Mae
The Big Hit
– Baby Bomb
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