{"id":26251,"date":"2023-12-11T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=26251"},"modified":"2023-12-11T07:56:11","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T12:56:11","slug":"album-review-the-nick-moss-band-get-your-back-into-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/11\/album-review-the-nick-moss-band-get-your-back-into-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: The Nick Moss Band — Get Your Back Into It!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Nick Moss has been leading his own bands for years; starting the late \u201890s, he released a string of blues albums with The Flip Tops. By 2010 he billed himself as a solo artist, and explored the heavier, rock side of the blues. These days he\u2019s back in more historically-rooted territory, and beginning with his 2018 release The High Cost of Low Living<\/i> (his first for Alligator), the guitarist has billed his group as The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling. A world-class harmonica player, Gruenling is a key to the creative dividends reaped by the current outfit.<\/p>\n

In its current configuration, The Nick Moss Band has made a point of having it both ways: they trade in a style deeply enmeshed in high-octane Chicago blues, but rather than recycle classic songs of the genre, they present new and original material that honors and builds upon the form.<\/p>\n

On Get Your Back Into It!<\/i>, the group delivers volume and value. The set is packed with 14 tunes, each of which conjures the spirit of classic Chicago blues of yesteryear. Listeners who don\u2019t know otherwise could easily mistake many of these songs for classics; only the improved sonic clarity marks Get Your Back Into It!<\/i> as a collection of modern-day recordings.<\/p>\n

Moss has a good-timing vocal presence that evokes thoughts of Louis Prima, Roy Brown and other giants. His phrasing on \u201cThe Bait in the Snare\u201d \u2013 set as it is against the chugging instrumental backing of this five-piece group \u2013 is spot-on. The character of vintage Paul Butterfield Blues Band is evoked on the riffing blues of \u201cAurelie.\u201d The propulsive \u201cMan on the Move\u201d is sure to make the listener move as well.<\/p>\n

But Get Your Back Into It!<\/i> isn\u2019t all good-natured, uptempo blues. The stinging, swaggering and sorrowful \u201cLiving in Heartache\u201d explores another side. \u201cIt Shocks Me Out\u201d features a spoken-sung vocal and shouted backing vocals that recall Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five. A thrilling instrumental showcase that gives each band member a turn in the spotlight, \u201cOut of the Woods\u201d adds a bit of jazz texture to the proceedings. Of particular note is Taylor Streiff\u2019s organ work, but everyone shines here.<\/p>\n

Moss and Gruenling burn brightest on \u201cYour Bark is Worse Than Your Bite\u201d; the rest of the group holds back to give them the spotlight. Gruenling takes full advantage of the space, tearing into an extended solo that will leave the listener gasping for breath.<\/p>\n

But Get Your Back Into It!<\/i> is very much the product of a group. Streiff\u2019s saloon piano is tasty on \u201cChoose Wisely.\u201d \u201cThe Solution\u201d is a momentary nod toward modern sounds; its urban character sets it apart from the rest of the record, yet it fits nicely, adding variety. And \u201cScratch \u2018N\u2019 Sniff\u201d ends the record with some catchy, twangy instrumental work. As a sampler of the breadth of The Nick Moss Band\u2019s artistry, Get Your Back Into It!<\/i> is a triumph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nick Moss has been leading his own bands for years; starting the late \u201890s, he released a string of blues albums with The Flip Tops. By 2010 he billed himself […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[3381],"class_list":["post-26251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-nick-moss","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26254,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26251\/revisions\/26254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}