Classic bar band Rhythm & Blues Boogie from Vancouver
No Sinner are fronted by former Canadian child-star actress Colleen Rennison, who has a near-perfect R&B voice that fits perfectly into this powerhouse Blues Band.
The tub-thumping title track “Boo Hoo Hoo” opens the album in a stylish crash, bang, wallop fashion that sets down a marker for what’s to follow. The diamond-edged production features Rennison’s voice over some searing guitar solos and a rhythm section that could be straight out of Atlanta.
“Runnin'” should be just another boogie/shuffle, but somehow Rennison’s voice and Campbell’s guitar licks made me put it onto repeat, over and over again, which hasn’t happened in a long time.
Things get down and dirty on the Chicago blues-infused “Work Song,” as Rennison gets to show what a great range she has without every resorting to shouting out the lyrics like so many of her contempories have to do.
Just when you think you have a handle on the band, they throw in the slow and stunning song of hope. “Rise Up” is so powerful, I ended up clenching my fists and looking to the sky the first time I heard it.
As always, I have a favourite track. “Devil on My Back” has some great lyrics and draws on the Classic Chicago Blues/’70s Rock mould that I’ve loved since my teenage years.
Colleen Rennison has a great voice and is very easy on the eye, so will no doubt draw comparisons with female Rock and Blues singers past and present, such as Maggie Bell, Beth Hart and perhaps early Tina Turner. But, be assured, she has a voice very much her own and in a couple of years time singers will be compared to her.
If I have one gripe, it’s the album cover – a colour photo of what appears to be Ms. Rennison’s rear end in a pair of Daisy Duke shorts. I’m no prude nor a ‘feminist’ but this band has so much more to offer than a picture that will only appeal to hormonal teenage boys.
Provogue PRD7429-2
The Rocking Magpie 