After reviewing a couple of heavy bashin', gnashin' teeth metal
releases, I needed a break.
Enter CeLange's New Day Comin' with its smooth and slinky grooves. The quartet is from New York and includes the captivating blues licking guitars of Gary M. Celima and the slickly smooth vocals of Sue Lange, who also plays flute. The band's rhythm section of bassist Dave Bokhour and drummer Anthony Vigliotti hold down the low end. Also making an appearance are drummer Bobby Chouinard, who worked with Billy Squier, and bassist Kenny Aaronson. But it's Bokhour and Vigliotti that make the most impact.
Walking the slender line between blues and pop seldomn appeals to me more than when CeLange is grooving through "It Doesn't Matter." After establishing the main riff of the song, the groove collapses into a soft section before crescendoing back to the original tempo and, ultimately, setting up guitarist Celima for a scorching solo.
Celima's playing is my favorite part of this disc. Recollecting images of guitar heroes Stevie Ray Vaughan and Craig Erickson, Celima is tasteful. He shines on "Save Me" and the dirty "Cruisin' For A Bruisin'."
But after nine solid tracks, the band is not done. How could they be without an instrumental? Simply titled "Instrumental," instead of "Devil's Waking Up In The Soul Of The Sun" or some other bullshit title, the blues guitar of Celima takes over again.
In sum, then, this is a positive indication that original blues is still alive and well. The use of the flute is kind of annoying, but probably more because the girls who played flute in my high school band thought their shit didn't stink, which has nothing to do with Sue Lange's shrilling ability.