Okay I will be the first to admit I wrote off The Empty Pockets before I even heard them. The first time they came across my radar was when I added them as an opener for a poster I was doing and selfishly didn’t give them two thoughts. Then I saw them later as the backing band for Al Stewart and that was strike two as far as giving them a listen. I had one promoter keep telling me over the years “you really need to give them a listen” but I never did. I was the guy Frank Zappa warned you about when it comes to rock journalism!
Fast forward to the present day, I’m doing a poster for The Empty Pockets upcoming show at The Kent Stage and as I usually do I put the band’s music on to listen to for some inspiration. What I didn’t expect is what came out thru the speakers, this was the sound everyone was telling me to check out. I reached out to them and told them I would give their latest album a fair review if they were interested.
The album “Gotta Find The Moon” arrived this morning in the mail and I gave it a spin. It’s double album packed with some really good tracks and when the album came out it debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues chart. They brand themselves as Chicago Blues but I think they are underselling themselves on this album, there are blues on here but so much more.
Their take on one of my favorite tunes “Nobody Knows You When Your Done And Out” is a refreshing take on a classic but give a listen to “Shocked By An Electrician” an original down and dirty blues track destined to achieve it’s place as a classic down the road.
In all honesty, the album itself is not a blues album as I perceived it. I would actually consider it more of an Indie rock album. You can hear and feel the blues influences throughout the album, but the stylings also go more to an Indie vibe especially with “I Put Your Name In A Song”, “Carried Away” and “Unknown Unknowns”. Don’t take this as a negative thing, it’s just a different thing. When you take the album as a whole I expected to hear song after song after song with as most blues albums a little repetitious but with “Gotta Find The Moon” it kept me on my toes waiting to see what the next track brought as each, and every track varied from the one before it.
Not going back and listening to their earlier stuff to influence my thoughts of it, what the album showed me is that The Empty Pockets are more than advertised, they are a band with solid musicians that aren’t pigeonholed into any one genre.
This is a band I expect more great music from in the future and finally I will be listening.
