Toledo-area band takes listeners on raucous ride with self-released album

First things first with Ugly Tribe Revival's "Up On English Hill..."

Turn it up.

Now turn it up louder.

The disc from the Toledo-area band sounds better the louder it goes, which is appropriate for the mix of hard rock, Southern rock, and grunge that the band's frontman Michael Fisher calls "sludge rock."

Labels aside, "Up On English Hill..." pays homage to the band's Southern rock roots and rust belt vibe with tales of moonshiners, bootleggers, and generally oddball B-movie horror scenes like the appropriately titled "Pom Pom Science Fair Suicides."

The disc is raucous and fun, shifting gears from Soundgarden-like grunge to breakneck metal with Fisher's voice high in the mix. Formerly known as Society's Ugly Son, the band is more focused and less sprawling in its music than in the past, which is a good thing.

As "English Hill" hits its stride, it steers from the big, riff-heavy arena rock of "Another Side To You" to the nuanced, hooky "Shanghai Butterfly." That's followed by the thumping "Baptists and Bootleggers," giving the disc a classic feel where the listener is along for the ride rather than being bludgeoned into submission.

Good stuff from a local band that deserves to be heard.

Along with Fisher on vocals, Ugly Tribe Revival is made up of Justin Fuller on bass, James Graham on drums, Matt "Dirt" Sayers, Jason Copsey, and Jay Jared on guitars. The disc was produced by E.J. Wells at his Happyland Studios in the Waterville area.

- ROD LOCKWOOD

Known primarily for his virtuoso guitar playing and gritty vocals over a 40-year career, Duke Robillard offers something out of the ordinary for him with his 17th album for Stony Plain. This time around, it's a generous, 64-minute package of mostly his creations, something he hasn't done for seven releases. His title as songwriter is on 12 of the 13 solid blues numbers here.

Robillard's usual bunch of regulars provides lively support on saxophones, keyboards, bass, and drums, but it's the boss' slashing guitar riffs and tough voice that give the music its soul. The album melds jazz, blues, and swing into a distinctive force that blurs the line between any of the styles.

Robillard has a catalog of 120 numbers to his songwriting credit, but it's through this album that a fan or casual listener can take a deeper measure of the man and what makes him tick.

The lone non-Robillard song, the lowdown "Make It Rain," written by Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan, gets a knockout treatment and is an album highlight.

- KEN ROSENBAUM

It may sound odd being entertained by the release of a live recording from a club performance that occurred 26 years ago, especially that of a largely forgotten barrelhouse blues pianist.

But this recording of the last known performance by William Lee "Piano Red" Perryman is simply downright fun, even with the technical limitations from the remastering of a four-track tape and less-than-perfect acoustics. The 18-song disc, record-ed live at Atlanta's Excelsior Mill in 1984, practically gushes with Piano Red's charm.

It emerged from the vault of former Excelsior Mill club owner Michael Reeves. You can find pianists with more sharply honed skills, but Piano Red has those intangibles - something endearing about him and his music that brightens your day.

It's a bouncy, upbeat collection from a little-known African American and seminal influence on rock 'n' roll whose published music went from once being confined to so-called "race records" to a hit among Europeans in the 1960s and 1970s.

He once opened for Keith Richards' band, the New Barbarians, and for the late reggae star, Peter Tosh.

Piano Red, who was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1983, was born in 1911 and was a warrior of Southern dance halls, theaters, juke joints, campgrounds, and traveling shows that preceded the advent of rock. He died in 1985, a year after this performance. Eight of the songs he performs on this disc were never released on a prior Piano Red recording.

- TOM HENRY