CD ALIVE0060
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Diablos photo by Robert
Whitall |
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The Howling Diablos
album 'Car Wash' won an award for 'Best National Indie Release'
at the Detroit
music Awards 2006 in the Outstanding National Small/Independent
Label Recording category and singer Tino Gross copped the Outstanding
Record Producer award. |
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Formed about 10
years ago, with service to Albert Collins and Earl King under
their belt, the five-member Diablos in Detroit give blues an
exciting full-court press of urban grit and grunge understandable
to Iggy Pop and the MC5. Tino Gross, producer of two R.L. Burnside
albums, does the singing and writes songs that are the testimonials
of someone who feels the sordid truth behind "Mean Little
Town" and "Broke Down." The band absolutely nails
Burnside's "Gone So Long." - Frank-John Hadley / DownBeat
Magazine April 2006 |
Classic Rock (UK) |
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This bluesy rock
and roll band succeeds where jillions of tohers have failed for
many reasons over the years. Some outfits are too imitative,
a lot are over produced many are just plain too squirrely for
me to warm up to. Detroit's Howling Diablos have a zero squirrel
factor and have found a warm funky groove that's natural and
rocking at the same time. The title track, "Car Wash."
Kicks off the disc. One of my favorite contemporary authors George
Pelecanos judged (in a website commentary if I recall) the film
Car Wash to be the black American Graffiti; I agree. I wondered
if these Detroit boys were gonna cover the theme? They didn't,
but their "Car Wash" had me struttin' around my living
room to their righteous take on the world of hot wax and minimum
wage pay. As the CD cooked along I decided that these guys are
like a perfect blend of Stones-y rock and Curtis Mayfield. Some
of the tunes, like "Dope Man," "Broke Down"
and "Prison Train," seem to be steeped in the wisdom
Mr. Mayfield laid down back in the day. Meanwhile, guitarist
Mike Smith tastefully churns out licks that range from Dixie-fried
mellow to over-the-top face slap a la Keith Richards in the early
'70s. The whole band contributes though. The vocals by Tino Gross
are tasteful and always enjoyable he doesn't come off like a
clone or a clown. He is what he is and that's enough and quite
a bit. I'm usually very critical of modern day sax players, but
Johnny Evans blends in with a to-the-point Memphis style honk.
Of course my favorite track is the final one, "Elvis Lives,"
which is the best tribute I've heard in years to the King. It's
the final track and is the icing on ye olde frigging cake. This
band, from what I can tell, is successful (they've shared the
stage with people ranging from Hank Jr. to George Clinton and
numerous blues legends) and it should be easy to go check them
out live for you Midwesterners. If they come down to Austin,
Texas I'll be there. - Thee Whiskey Rebel / Carbon 14 |
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Pretty much a stroll
through America's roots rhythm 'n' blues stuff that's fired up
many a rock band since the whole shebang took off, most notably
another band from their town: Five Horse Johnson. These guys
are closer to the root though, gigging as a blues club house
band in Detroit (Sullys) is no surprise. Hefty harp/sax/slide
action topping a rockin' pushy ass-end and a pretty good phlegm
growler up top works well. There were '60s garage bands that
leaned on this stuff hard, especially the ones with Mexican heritage
and other rock-identified bands like The Rationals, also from
Detroit rock city, and a cultural forebearer of our boys. Most
of the "blues rock" bands of the '60s and '70s and
on were more Cream/Hendrix-degenerated rote bar rock and less
greasy r'n'b, which is a shame, and maybe even a sin. Without
genius, the grooveless blues rock trip undercut the physical/sexuality
of the r'n'b groove. Car Wash definitely has straight-up piles
of groove and should appeal to anyone who digs the straighter
'60s Beefheart stuff, fucking, the roughed-up side of Chicago
blues, Hound Dog Taylor, Grand Funk, The Lee County Killers,
and a buncha those Fat Possum folks. These guys have gigged with
the Dirtbombs, George Clinton, Albert Collins, Bocephus (that's
Hank Jr., for you young people), and about a half a billion other
respectable units. Fun for the whole family, no irony involved.
- Craig Regala / Lollipop |
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Raw ass HONKY blues
in the Black Keys mode and tough as nails in the Detroit/Ann
Arbor style. Gritty and groovin' blues on the rough, but funky
side. The Diablos blues credentials run deep, honing their chops
in D-Town blues clubs and working with funk legend George Clinton,
cowboy baddass Hank Williams Jr and recently passed juke joint
god R.L. Burnside. This is the real stuff and the disc drips
of the stink and sweat of the dirty blues! - Craig Goossen 9/11
Culture
Bunker |
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'Car Wash' made
Al Kooper's 2005 Best list at #50
"If ya don't get to hear enough Howling Wolf, Captain Beefheart
or old Canned Heat, just slip this on," Kooper wrote. "It's
da real thing in its own way. Glad this crossed my path - like
an old black cat." - Al Kooper
(Music legend who produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played on Bob Dylan's
best sides and founded Blood Sweat & Tears)
RIFF2 CELEBRATES THE VERY BEST OFDETROIT WITH THE DETROIT
101COUNTDOWN!
RIFF2 collected your votes for your favorite Detroit bands for
the DETROIT 101 COUNTDOWN, which ran on RIFF2 on New Year's Eve
to celebrate the very bestMotor City rock and roll! # 52. HOWLING
DIABLOS - CARWASH
TOP ELEVEN of 2005 By The Barman - I94 Australia
(72 Blues and) "Car Wash" by the Howling Diablos (also
from the Motor City, coincidentally) were two of the most simultaneously
arse-kicking and soulful chunks of music to come out in 2005. |
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Track two points
us in the right direction, R.L. Burnside's "Gone So Long"
in an early Beefy style by a band out of the mean streets of
Detroit. It's rough and tough, written mainly by singer Tino
Gross and powered by slide guitarist Mike Smith. Even the covers
as bleak as the music. Don't know if it's Nu-Blues but it'll
do for me. Not pure blues but lots of the right elements; "they
found a body floating in the river, musta been some wino slipped
in an' drowned. And all the boys are laughin' over at the barbers
shop on main street, that's the way they do things here in this
little town". "Mean Little Town" say no more.
"Dope Man" borrows heavily from Beefy's "Sure
"Nuff n Yes I Do" with a lyrical content that's been
part of the blues through every generation. "Elvis Lives"
concludes this action packed half hour plus and ok. I believe
it. "Dean & Frank called him a clown" but Elvis
had the last laugh. Elvis Lives Anagramsinteresting. Howling
Diablosanagramsvery, very interesting. - Al Tait / Blues Matters
(UK) |
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Serious, shredding
blues-rock from a band that sounds like it has spent years in
smokey, sweaty bars playing to meth-addled tweaksters. Tino Gross
sings with razor tonsils, Johnny Evans jowls on sax and harp,
Mike Smith stakes out a guitar territory somewhere between Stevie
Ray Vaughn and Howling Wolf. The sound drips with swamp water,
but, with lyrics obsessing about drug deals and dead girlfriends,
never leaves the noir-black heart of the city. Grab a long-neck
Bud and charge the stage, kid, but watch out for broken glass
and barbed wire. - T.J. Wolfsbane / The Sentimentalist |
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Plan B (UK) |
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From
ROCKS OFF, The Rolling Stones Message Board : Annual Year End Music Awards Extravaganza
2005 posted 11/18/05 by Sir Stonesalot : Best Blues album:
"Car Wash", The
HOWLING DIABLOS.
I'd say this is White Boy Blues but there's a black guy in the
band, so I can't. The Howling Diablos are a one trick pony. Fortunately,
it's a pretty fucking good trick! This is lowdown, nasty, swamp
running music. You got loud nasty guitars, thumping bass; a driving
beat, and gravel worn vocals. Check out this lyric: I'm going
down to the car wash, Going down there to pick up my check
That is the very first lyric that you hear on the record! Too
fucking cool. |
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If the present-day
Mississippi blues-and- boogie crowd hasn't already heard the
footsteps from up North, it oughta. A particularly nasty fivesome
from Detroit has been generating some of the strongest hoodoo
energy around, and in the tradition of the original Mississippi-to-Motown
boogiemeister John Lee Hooker, has put a rough-and-ready urban
spin on its sound.
The Howling Diablos
beat on the blues with the best of 'em, and, true to the band's
hometown, the group makes great attitude music. Vocalist Tino
Gross possesses one of the scarier growls around, and one can't
help but hear a bit of Iggy in her, alongside the blues. Guitarist
Mike Smith can play the blues straight or amp it up, and drummer
Shannon Boone is a basher supreme.
The band made its
bones in the mid-'90s, opening for and backing up touring blues
acts at Sully's, a Detroit blues haven. Since then, the Diablos
have shared the stage and the studio with Parliament/ Funkadelic,
Hank Williams Jr., the late R.L. Burnside, and Kid Rock. The
band has laid down a few self-produced discs, and its latest,
Car Wash, is a gem worth tracking down. - Duane Verh / Cleveland
Scene
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Incredibly raw,
dirty, in your face and up-yer-arse blues rock from Detroit/Ann
Arbor-based, Black Keys-affiliated blues rockers (and when we
say blues, we do mean BLUES, as opposed to white middle-class
Claptonesque drudgeries) but filtered through the RAWK influences
(AC/DC, Humble Pie, New York Dolls, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feat
and of course the Stones) that were the music's next logical
development, with a touch of Clinton funk thrown in. Fans of
true Detroit garage psych will be, er, psyched (GRRRRRR! -Ed)
to hear that original Mitch Ryder drummer Johnny Badanjek appears
on and co-wrote no less than three tracks. Rock and muthafukin'
roll. - Freak
Emporium (UK) |
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"Car
Wash ROOOOLZ." - Al Kooper |
Alive's best
release since the Black Keys launched
their career on the California label. - Upbeetmusic |
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Detroit's Howling
Diablos are better known for who they know (Uncle Kracker, George
Clinton, Ahmet Ertegun, who put them in the Sun
Records tribute film) that what they do. But the cracker
quintet honed its raw, funky blues rock backing the likes of
Albert Collins and Johnny Adams in Detroit clubs, so it knows
its business. Nobody's going to mistake 'Car Wash' for a Muddy
Waters record, but bandleader Tino Gross's raspy growl, Mike
Smith's gnarly bottleneck guitar and the rhythm section's deliberately
primitive thump keep it far away from the universe of Jonny Lang
and Kenny Wayne Sheperd. Plus the Diablos cover RL Burnside's
"Gone So Long," which automatically gives 'em a third
leg up in a juke joint world. - Michael Toland / High
Bias |
Howling Diablos
= The Dirtbombs + Muddy Waters
I was cruising around Detroit the other day in an El Camino wearing
a fedora and mirrored sunglasses as my Schlitz spilled into my
lap and mixed with cigar ash. Oh wait, that was just a fantasy
built from listening to the Howling Diablos. Point is, Car Wash
makes you feel like a badass no matter where you are. Yes, even
at your five-year-old cousin's birthday party, you goddamn sissy.
It's blues, rock, a little cocaine, a little electric chair and
a smidgen of screwin' in the back of a Cadillac pressed into
one soundtrack to sin. What the hell are you reading for? Go
get me a Schlitz bitch! Shane Farver / Slug
Magazine |
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While I can't pretend
to have had as much familiarity with the music of Detroit's Howling
Diablos as I have with the name, it seems as though my life must
have been seriously lacking. This disc has been lodged in the
CD player for the best part of a month, and I can't get over
just how absolutely filthy it sounds. In 2004, singer Tino Gross
produced an RL Burnside album for Fat Possum, and was
so moved by the experience that he decided to apply a more rootsy
blues brush to his band's already well-established style of turntable-assisted
urban/blues rock. (Apparently Kid Rock was once a member of their
line-up.) If this is back to their roots, then they've been planted
in dark soil fertilised by rotting human remains. By the sound
of "Carwash", the Howling Diablos haven't so much done
a deal with the devil as bought a shelf company with the old
bastard and seed-funded a national franchise chain of dope houses
and knock shops. "Oh, it's a damn shame the way you treat
me, baby," warns Tino Gross on the self-titled opener, and
you know by the tone in his voice that he is NOT fucking around.
A treacherous backbeat (this album features the best sounding
drums I've heard in years) anchors a menacing, black-hearted
sax refrain from Johnny Evans, and slidework so hot that guitarist
Mike Smith must have to play with asbestos gloves. And that's
just ONE track (there are nine others). - The Barman/I-94
Bar (Australia) |
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Amazing Detroit
blues-funk band plays it down and dirty. Produced by singer Tino
Gross (who also produced two albums for Mississippi blues legend
R.L. Burnside). The band was originally formed as a house band
in a Detroit blues club, and in their time backed the likes of
Albert Collins and were included in the Sun Records tribute film.
Their cover of R.L. Burnside's "Gone so Long" conjures
up whiskey from a hip flask and cigarettes with nowhere to go
and all day to get there. - Kulture
Mutt |
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This is down'n'dirty
blues rock'n'roll that sounds great. - Lollipop |
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Veteran blues-rockers
the Howling Diablos have been mashing-up roots blues and modern-day
urban music for more than a decade. The band started life as
a pickup band backing blues legends like Hubert Sumlin and Bo
Diddley at a Detroit nightclub. With the addition of an unknown
turntablist named Robert Ritchie - better known to you as Kid
Rock - the band helped create a hybrid style that has sold buttloads
of records (for other people). Now, with "Car Wash,"
the Diablos eschew the loops-and-beats approach and instead kick
out some blues jams so funky you'll wonder who left the lid off
the garbage pail. This approach was largely inspired by frontman
Tino Gross' ongoing production work for Mississippi-based Fat
Possum records. He has brought a modern touch to records by R.L.
Burnisde and Little Freddie King. In return, he was inspired
to return to his own roots as a blues player. He let the band
loose in the studio, and it doesn't disappoint. With droning
slide guitars and propulsive bass and drums, the Diablos take
country blues and put an innovative big-city spin on them. Making
a guest appearance on three songs is the great Johnny "Bee"
Badanjek of Mitch Ryder's Detroit Wheels. While "Car Wash"
is a straight-ahead blues record, the blues have never sounded
so contemporary. - Brian J. Bowe / 168Mag
and Creem magazine |
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This Detroit quintet
serves up gritty electric bar blues, adding a funky edge to a
style derived from Albert Collins, Steve Ray Vaughn, and others.
Their second album features a solid rhythm section, with Shannon
Boone's drums mixed favorably hot it gives the album the sort
of punch you'd expect to hear in a club setting. Mike Smith's
guitar and Johnny Evans' harp and sax each provide memorable
riffs and solos, and vocalist Tino Gross sings with both swagger
and grit. Howling devils, indeed! - Eli Messinger / Amazon.com |
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Pure and direct,
a rootsier version of the Dirtbombs. - Triggerfish
(Germany) |
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Un album blues avec
un son sale provenant du fond du garage. - Inouille
(France) |
Ce qui ce fait de
mieux dans le Blue Rock contemporain. - Walked
in Line (France) |
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Revitalized with
two new and wildly talented band members both in their 20s, Mike
Smith on guitar and drummer Shannon Boone, Diablo veterans Johnny
Evans on harp and sax, Dr. Mo Hollis on electric bass, and general
ringleader and front man Tino Gross now emerge as one hell of
an on fire five piece ensemble about to break out big time on
the strength of this explosive new recording. The fact that this
blues really rocks is good for the blues, good for rock music,
and it's great for anyone wise enough to grab up a copy of 'Car
Wash' and give it a listen. Spellbinding enough to show that
the blues is more than just a rigid genre, fans of Morphine and
Iggy Pop will experience a major adrenaline rush when they get
their hands on a copy of Car Wash. Sax player Johnny Evans frequently
treads close to Morphine's dark rock, built as it was on a deep
blues noir foundation. "A Woman (Like Mine)" followed
by the album's final track, "Elvis Lives," share some
stunning "Stooges moments" in the lyrics and vocal
delivery. Tino explained that Iggy started off as a blues drummer,
just as he himself did, and that the spontaneous music the Stooges
laid down was close to the blues in many ways. The heart of any
great recording gets down to the songs and the producer. This
one was executed by design as an essentially sparse, lean, loud,
live and red hot recording by veteran producer Tino Gross. The
sound he created is particularly road ready as the band demonstrated
at their recent well attended CD release party at the Magic Bag
in Ferndale, Michigan. Tino also either wrote or collaborated
on nine of the album's 10 songs, with R.L. Burnside's "Gone
So Long" (track 2) the sole cover. Yet Burnside's finger
prints are everywhere. The title cut sets the pace for that distinct
sound augmented further by tight, rousing performances by all
five Howling Diablos. "Broke Down" (track 3) contains
a barely audible underpinning of spoken word street rants performed
by Tino (in the style of a wino who has broken with reality)
to expand on the song's outward desolation and deep blue lyrics.
"Prison Train" (track 4), a blues murder ballad, is
among the album's most striking achievements: "Well you
know I shot my baby, shot her full of dope, early tomorrow morn
I'll be swinging from a rope..." Those lyrics set against
the song's cheerful and crisp guitar-driven instrumentation are
what great art is all about. Recorded on an antique microphone
at the White Room studios in Detroit, "Mean Little Town"
(track 6) has some of the most stark, austere vocals the blues
has ever known. This recording signals a whole new chapter in
the life of one of Detroit's great bands. Expect extensive touring
soon to support this no nonsense scorcher of a CD. - George P.
Seedorff / Big City Blues |
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Detroit's Howling
Diablos sound like a band of veteran bar musicians who have been
honing the same sound for years and have now found their style
in vogue. Car Wash drop-kicks the asses of just about
all of the newer stripped-down blues-rock bands. The Black Keys
and the White Stripes may be working in the same territory and
will certainly sell more records, but the Howling Diablos smoke
both of those bands on pure chops and power and carry on the
gritty, industrial blues reminiscent of John Lee Hooker's days
in the Motor City. Lyrically, instead of sounding like poses,
the songs about working crappy jobs, hard drugs, and prison have
a spooky air of authenticity. This band is probably too old and
unpretentious to appeal to the young hipster crowd, but people
who genuinely dig low-down, raw blues should certainly check
this out. Their version of R.L. Burnside's "Gone So Long"
is alone worth the purchase of the record. - Andy Smith / Pop Culture
Press |
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This is one of the
most energetic and fun blues bands I've ever had the pleasure
of hearing. If you don't believe me just give a listen to "A
Woman (Like Mine)" and "Elvis Lives" then name
a band that's got more energy and is more fun to listen to. The
Yardbirds had the energy but they didn't have the tongue in cheek
humor of the Howling Diablos. Other highlights are "Dope
Man", "Mean Little Town" and the title track.
- Ear Candy |
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Totally drained
of all fat and extraneous shite it's as refreshing as a nice
cold Guinness on a, well, any day, to hear something so resiliently
blues in this day and age (how old am I?) without it being horrendous
teeth grinding AOR/MOR Clapton/Cray safe as houses businessman
blues. Their simple trick is playing us some songs, not using
them as foundations to spray fountains of noodling guitar squawl
at us. In this they come on a lot more like Lynyrd Skynyrd's
insatiable Southern street party, tho a Detroit one, where they
stand around burning oil cans, drinking rotgot whiskey to keep
warm. This is reflected musically, a sound as hard, dry and lean
as a dried up riverbed, echoing the tough, cold urban blues climate.
Skynyrd shines thru' on 'Prison Train', which sees the chirpy
little riff almost crashland into the tune from 'Sesame Street'
(!), and the equally Stonesy and possibly Little Feat too, country-honkin'
'Mean Old Town', like a glint of sunshine through the trees on
a winters day. The rhythms are pretty damn tough, possibly from
their years as house band, playing night after night over people
arguing, fighting and generally not listening. Guaranteed to
put the shake in George Clinton's funkadelic ass. Mike Smith's
guitar playing is understated yet perfectly weighted, mirroring
the melody line a la 'Voodoo Chile' on the opening title track,
Stevie Ray slinky Albert Collins simmering on 'Gone So Long',
and some sledgehammer slidework on 'Stop Runnin' Your Mouth',
'Dope Man' and 'Broke Down'. Vocalist Tino Gross has a superb
blues voice, reminiscent of even Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters
at times and all stirred in to their street punk suss and wagger
attitude it kinda makes me think of The Gories grandparents.
Fantastic roadhouse shaboogie blues. - Sleazegrinder |
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Dirty, greeezy,
funky blues-rock from long-time Detroit scene dudes the Howling
Diablos. This baby reeks of barroom, booze, smokes and an unhealthy
familiarity with any number of rare blues and rock records, and
too many late nights on the expressways of the Motor City. -
Colin Bryce / Mohair
Sweets |
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Wow! Another release
from the good folks at Bomp/Alive Records has me staring at my
speakers in disbelief. Not that I can see anything comin' outta
them, but I don't know where else to look. As always, I'll be
honest with ya, up until now I had no clue as to who, or what,
the "Howling Diablos" were. (...) What appears on "Car
Wash" however is some of the most arresting Blues-Rock you're
even gonna hear. Now, anyone who follows Blues or Rock can tell
you that there are at least a gazillion bands out there claiming
to be blues-rock, or blues influenced rock, etc. However, every
time I hear one of these bands, it's always a let down, either
it's rockers who ain't got a clue when it comes to the blues,
or blues musicians that couldn't rock even if they were simultaneously
possessed by the ghosts of Elvis and Hendrix. Well, the Howling
Diablos will not disappoint. The songs are full of emotion, they're
hard, dirty, simple, grungy, and sweaty! The band (Tino Gross
- vocals, Johnny Evans - sax/harp, Mo Hollis - bass, Mike Smith
- guitar, and Shannon Boone - drums) really seems to be giving
every ounce of passion and ability they can muster. Finally the
real deal, this should appease fans on both side of the spectrum.
Great stuff! - Urotsukidoji
Pad |
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The dirty groove
of "Car Wash" leads off the record with Tino's low
growl lamenting washing Lincoln Continentals for a living. The
next song is an R.L. Burnside cover, "Gone So Long",
which takes a body into a whole 'nuther place. It's gritty and
funky with North Mississippi red clay all over it. The Howling
Diablos don't need to just cover the blues great though
"Broke Down" would fit right in to any Mississippi
juke joint with Mike Smith's slide guitar supplying soul power
shake appeal. Mississippi isn't the only part of the South that
the Howling Diablos translate Michigan style. "Prison Train"
gives off a good time New Orleans feel despite the songs darker
lyrics. A few more highlights: "Mean Little Town" exudes
an Exile On Main Street vibe, "Stop Running Your Mouth"
has Tino laying it down right, and the legendary drummer from
Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, Johnny "Bee" Badanjek,
makes a guest appearance on three tracks. Johnny Evans's work
on saxophone and harmonica are also stellar throughout Car
Wash. So if you're looking for some good, funky blues to
listen to while dancing with your lady or maybe just drinking
Pabst Blue Ribbon, heading to the Car Wash would be the
right thing to do. The Howling Diablos play the blues with sweat
and feeling. It makes me think of what they would say if anybody
ever asked them this line from "I'm Waiting For My Man",
"hey white boy, what you doing uptown?" The Howling
Diablos would probably answer, "playing the blues, listen
to us, and watch your worries disappear." - Wally Bangs
/ Blogcritics.org |
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Dirty ass electric
blues from D-troit. (...) Tino Gross sounds like Captain Beefheart
before the weirdness set in. Johnny Badnajek from Mitch Ryder's
Detroit Wheels steps up, or sits down rather, for some drums
and you can tell strictly from his playing that his ass is the
dirtiest of all. - Junior Mackbrough / The
Nerve |
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Detroit's contribution
to rock & roll has long since been its own distinct thread,
holding the closest relationship to blues and soul roots more
than just about anywhere else. The Howling Diablos fall full
square in this lineage, both on their own and as a backing band,
and on Car Wash they keep on keeping on in that vein (going
so far as to collaborate on three songs with original Mitch Ryder
drummer Johnny Badanjek). Sticking for the most part to quick,
snarling strutters -- no grotesque Blueshammer nonsense here,
thankfully; instead there's sly humor and focus -- Car Wash
rides the line between older styles and more modern recording.
John Smerek's engineering captures the dirt and snarl in the
arrangements perfectly -- at points Mike Smith's guitar sounds
like a buzzing, angry fly (keep an ear out during some of the
breaks on "Prison Train"), while Shannon Boone's drums
are big without being overbearing, a solid series of punches.
At points the band sounds like what a combination precursor and
follower of AC/DC would be like. - All
Music Guide |
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With a vocalist
who growls like an old, gnarled black man who spent half his
life on a chain gang, the Howling Diablos sling out a mannish,
down 'n' dirty abundance of grit-encrusted po'-boy Rock 'n' Roll
birthed from misery, inebriation, and shady midnight pacts with
the devil. The locomotive-chuggin' hambone guitar, wailing hellhound
harmonica, burly street-struttin' sax, mud-swirlin' steamboat
bass, and stampeding smokestack drums make me think of the Howling
Diablos as the barroom-brawlin' white-trash cousins of Howlin'
Wolf. -Moser / Under The Volcano |
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Folks, the Diablos
are here to tell ya: Relax, take your shoes off, dance, have
a good time and put your cares aside, cuz it ain't nothin' but
a Detroit party, yo. The set was an hour's worth of head-bobbing,
booty-shakin', foot-stompin' funky rock they do so well, delivered
with a big grin and a lot of bouncing around on stage. From a
thumping rendition of R.L. Burnside's "Gone So Long"
to the straight funk of "Broke Down" to the Rolling
Stonesish old-school rocker "Mean Little Town" to the
soulful gem "Raining in Mississippi," Detroit's favorite
bar band has definitely found their niche. Each song seemed to
start out with its own thing, then morph into their signature
ballsout jam, with blistering slide guitar solos and honkin'
sax work by Johnny Evans alongside Tino Gross' boozy growl and
Mo Hollis' percussive bass lines. If you haven't seen a Diablos
show, get thee to the next one. And wear comfy shoes, because
you'll spend a lot of time stomping about. - Diana McNary / Detroit News |
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If you are a fan
of gritty grungy smokey nightclub blues this CD will not disappoint.
The music drives the vocals and the vocals drive the music all
through this CD. You ain't shit unless you listen to Rock and
blues like this. On a side note, the cover is extremly cool.
It makes me want to go to Detroit, get a tune up and catch some
great blues. - Jeff Jackson / Music
Filter |
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This disc has a
more primitive blues sound yet still delivers the funky groove
we're used to from the Diablos. By far the band's best effort
to date. - Rachel May / Detroit
Free Press |
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This album has a
slithering sound, the guitar chilling out and doing its own thing
while smooth vocals lay down like it doesn't matter either way.
Drums sprinkle themselves in to get listeners' heads moving from
side to side. I would be better at shooting pool with Howling
Diablos in the background-this I know. This band is turning heads
along the warpath, apparently having already made quite a name
for themselves opening for such names as Hank Williams Jr. and
George Clinton. If you like the whole hot-rod thing and have
an eight ball for a stick shift, give it a shot. -Thomas Murray
/ Skratch
magazine |
Alive! Records Latest
Release Proves the Detroit Music Scene Is Still On Fire
Detroit legendary blues rockers, The Howling Diablos, produce
a raw and gritty new CD, "Carwash", that is sure to
kick open the back door of the music industry and put its dirty
feet on the designer couch of the "cookie-cutter" music
trends. - PR
News Wire |
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