“Analog was important to me. If you want to put out an album on vinyl, you might as well do it right.” Originally released in 2014, the self-titled album from Benjamin Booker is a thrilling blend of rock, blues, and punk. Recorded at The Bomb Shelter, an entirely analog studio located in East Nashville, Booker’s songwriting and singing is rooted in the past but with a modern aura, with the artist himself citing The Gun Club, blues stalwart Blind Willie Johnson and ’70s rockers T.Rex as influences. The fast and raw album opener “Violent Shiver” gets the juices flowing, and “Always Waiting” follows with more of the similar energy. “Wicked Waters” and “Have You Seen My Son” are frantic and full of punk spirit, and “Kids Never Grow Older” is another highlight that embodies the raucous and immediate feel of the record.

• music label: ATO Records 2014

reviewed by singing in japanese 01/2020