Fat Possum established themselves with the raw, hypnotic Mississippi electric blues of folks like the late, great
Junior Kimbrough and
R.L. Burnside, but that isn't their only stock in trade, as evidenced by their third label compilation,
Not the Same Old Blues Crap, Vol. 3.
R.L. Burnside appears a couple times, once in a nice acoustic setting and once in a more modern setting featuring rapper
Lyrics Born. Not exactly what you'd expect from Fat Possum, but it works! In addition to the blues offerings, there are some solid rockers, too, from the raw rock of
the Black Keys to Iggy & the Stooges covering
Junior Kimbrough. Both
Thee Shams and
Paul Westerberg's
Grandpaboy channel the swaggering spirit of
the Rolling Stones in their '70s heyday, with
Thee Shams singer Zach Gabbard sounding uncannily like a young
Mick Jagger. Either you like
Bob Log III or you don't, but regardless, he continues with his boob fetish in probably the weakest moment of the album. The real treasure trove is to be found in the recordings of George Mitchell, which Fat Possum acquired the rights to, featuring unreleased performances from the likes of
Furry Lewis and
Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Not the Same Old Blues Crap, Vol. 3 surely lives up to its moniker, and coupled with a budget price, it makes it a good way to check out what Fat Possum is all about. ~ Sean Westergaard