Audio By Carbonatix
As a self-described introduction to the music of Junior Kimbrough, this tribute album fails spectacularly: These versions of his songs are so radically and haphazardly interpreted that they give only the faintest clue as to what set Kimbrough apart from other venerated bluesmen. And yet almost every eclectic cut here is a winner, from the grits-and-honey-smeared soul of Heartless Bastards’ “Done Got Old” to a meltdown rendition of “You Better Run” by a reunited and surprisingly virile Iggy and the Stooges. Will this album make everyone who hears it rush out and buy some real Kimbrough? Hardly. But as a work unto itself, it’s almost flawless, dragging some truly tweaked and inspired performances out of the indie-rock glitterati.
