Following on from Son of Dave’s critically acclaimed 2008 album ‘03, the notorious genre-alchemist returns with his latest offering Shake A Bone recorded and mixed by Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Stooges, Robert Plant) in Chicago. You may know Benjamin Darvill (aka Son Of Dave) from his days spent in the band Crash Test Dummies, who toured relentlessly for 12 years and sold more than 8 million records. What you may not know about this Winnipeg born artist, is that he has been living in London, UK for the last number of years and has been bringing “the Blues kicking and howling into the 21st Century” ever since his 2006 release Son Of Dave‘02.

Darvill’s celebrated fusion of funk vocal-patterns with divergent rhythm-and-blues riffs and New Orleans atmosphere are relit for a fourth time on his new album. His conspicuous songs stem from a real ache to conquer a guitar dominated world of music with his raucous harmonica playing fuelled by vocal beat-boxing, foot stomping and a medley of improvised percussion.

Son of Dave has toured the world as a solo act, playing hundreds of shows in the world’s best festivals, concert stages and night clubs; he has supported huge acts, appeared on major television programs and had chart success in several countries. Championed by the likes of Dazed & Confused, Vice and Clash, he has performed on BBC 2’s flagship music show ‘Later With Jools Holland’, has opened for Iggy and the Stooges, and supported Supergrass on their last UK tour.

Like any album made from passion it’s only as rough as Son of Dave wants it to be. Darvill translates this into moments of sonic disorder, verbosely outrageous uses of the harmonica, and rhythmically controlled homages to big-band swing. It’s not meant to be easily filed in your record collection, but instead to sit beside it like a noncompliant child, still working out what it wants to be while challenging its elders at every new acrobatic arrangement. Self-produced by Benjamin Darvill, Shake A Bone is a classic piece of pop not made to any recognizable model, but with a strict agenda to be a piece of dusty blues you can gladly dance to in downstairs jazz bars or sunny Hyde Park gatherings.

Son of Dave website • myspace

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