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ELECTRIC BLUE WATERMELON
ATO
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Six albums into their career, this trio from the hills of the Magnolia State, who’ve lately dipped into jam-band riff-a-rama and Allman Brothers cops, bring their music back home. Singer/guitarist Luther Dickinson slims down his slide tone for a couple of tunes, even playing acoustic on "Mississippi Boll Weevil," to summon the ghosts of Fred McDowell and R.L. Burnside. And "Bang Bang Lulu" has the kind of rolling, martial drumbeats that used to power Othar Turner’s weekend-long beer-and-goat barbecues, where Luther and his brother/drummer Cody served part of their musical apprenticeship. Burnside’s guitarslinging sidekick, Kenny Brown, gets a few name checks, and Lucinda Williams turns up to sing on the peppy, optimistic "Hurry Up Sunrise." The Dirty Dozen Brass Band also put a touch of New Orleans funeral music in "Horseshoe," a reminiscence of the times and musicians who touched the Dickinsons’ lives and are now gone. Many of the songs have an autobiographical ring or tell stories using the words and experiences of the Mississippi musical patriarchs who influenced the Allstars — an improvement over the vapid lyrics of the group’s past few albums. And big daddy Jim Dickinson’s production ensures that even as the music stays anchored by his boys’ music roots, it also rocks like hell.
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