The debut album from
Buckwheat Zydeco, the heir to the late
Clifton Chenier's crown. The mood is more relaxed than a lot of his later work, but the technical ability is all present. Instead of the jumping horn sections and flashing accordion work that dominates the majority of the catalog, here there is a collection of deeply blues-based songs. The tone is a little slower and a little more bass-heavy, but the music has the same lump of power in it deep down. That power is based more in emotion than in party-readiness now, though. Those who have heard the prior major-release albums might enjoy this one as a new dimension to
Buckwheat's music. On the same note, it's a decently large step from what the average listener might have already heard. The party music here has the same bounce to it, but the instrumentation is different. The non-party music is more prevalent anyway, with some exceptional playing and vocals on the part of the bandmembers, as well as Dural himself. Pick it up for a nice change, but listen to the whole collection for the full picture. ~ Adam Greenberg