Luke Hilly & The Cavalry – Shake Your Bones
Road Sweet Road Records
https://lukehillythecavalry.bandcamp.com/
10 tracks , Running Time – 31 Minutes
Luke Hilly And The Cavalry sound like they should have many band members and listening to this release the listener will indeed get that impression. However they are a duo from Sion in Switzerland. They are comprised of Luc Monsciani and Gianluca Cavalera. Luc plays lead guitar, cigar box guitar and belts out the singing. Gianluca plays harmonica and sings as well. Formed in the South Swiss Alps they have played for five years and have a very distinctive sound. They play rootsy blues music on a totally apocalyptic scale. They mix all kinds of genres punk it up and serve it to the listener very hot and spicy. It was recorded and remastered in Roystone Studio in Charrat Switzerland.
Ten tracks coming at you like a hurricane with a defining opener “Home Sweet Road” with a driven force so raw you can feel the blood oozing from the veins of the lyrics. The mix of gruff vocals and excellent harmonica playing is hard to beat on this one, it rolls along easy. “You Shook Me All Night Long” keeps the tempo high, punky and thrashy, a real treat. “Diggin’ My Soul” has a slower slide riff to it. This is a gospel song of sorts, played in their unique way. The next track “I Still Believe In the Ghost Of Robert Johnson” is pure delta blues with a shot of Chicago harmonica. For me the standout track is number five “I’ve Never Seen My Home”. It exemplifies the raw natural talent of the band a great beat and full of energy and good harmonies. The cover of A.P Carter’s “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” is well balanced and keeps to a traditional take of a great singalong with a good backbeat. Strong vocals persist through “Oh Lord Stay Away From Me” a slower acoustic number, still with a hill country feel.
Tempo is relaxed again on “Oh Lord Stay Away From Me” a tuneful ballad with some good picking. On the penultimate track things turn gypsy toned on the sinister sounding “The Field”. Final track is the second cover originally written by Renato Carosone, the wonderful “L’Americano” sung in their native French language. It seems a mainstay of their setlist and a real crowd pleaser. The song relates to somebody wanting to be American and all the goodness that goes with that. Considering the heavy guttural Americanised vocal delivery it would seem this duo are heavily influenced by American music and do it much justice.
This is a highly infectious release and is over too quickly, so just keep playing it on repeat. It is that good and puts a smile on your face. It’s all music at the end of the day and this powerful duo have a style of their own that begs you to see them in a live setting. Highly recommended.
