Foghat – Sonic Mojo

Written by on 14-01-2024 at 23:15.

Foghat. To the average Zware Metalen reader, that name won’t ring any bells. And yet this English band has 53 years on the clock. Respect! From 1971, that is, and then you know you’re opening the “classic rock bands” drawer.

For me, as a lover of that genre, Foghat is a band whose blues rock and boogie rock I have appreciated for decades (their beautiful, stylized word logo, for example, is also very recognizable) but of which I did not own a single LP or CD. Until recently, that is. I stumbled upon their incredibly successful 1977 live LP Foghat Live at a local flea market a few months ago. With phenomenal versions of Fool For The City, I Just Want To Make Love To You and the Foghat classic Slow Ride. No wonder that record went platinum multiple times!

With such an old band, personnel changes (and even deaths) are inevitable. In this case, 77-year-old drummer Roger Earl is the only remaining original band member. But his companions are seasoned musicians who earned their spurs with the likes of Molly Hatchet and Pat Travers Band. Bands who also have (southern) rock and blues as foundation.

And so here is Sonic Mojo, the first new album since 2016’s slide guitar dominated Under The Influence. Sonic Mojo also breathes the blues from start to finish, for 43 minutes long, the song choice obviously playing quite an important role as Foghat are offering, as they often do, a combination of original songs and covers of (often old) blues artists. Passing in review this time for example: Willie Dixon, B.B. King and Chuck Berry. Some of the original songs bear the stamp of Kim Simmonds, Roger Earl’s colleague at Savoy Brown in the 1960s. Simmonds co-wrote three songs, but died in December 2022; so he did not live to see the release of Sonic Mojo.

Among those songs are She’s A Little Bit Of Everything and Drivin’ On. She’s A Little Bit Of Everything is the album’s opener and stands there perfectly in place, as a summary of all that is to come: smooth melodic rock with a tasty blues sauce over it, nicely mixed instruments, and the experienced, somewhat hoarse voice of Scott Holt (who is for the first time behind Foghat‘s mic). With enough (admittedly: a lot of) room for some really solid guitar solos from the agile fingers of guitarist Bryann Bassett. Drivin’ On is the steamiest song on the album, but does flirt heavily with ZZ Top‘s La Grange. Not to mention that both songs could be spooning in the same bed.

Sometimes it does sound a bit too nice though. I Don’t Appreciate You for instance, released as a second single. Well, that song could fit right in the uptempo oeuvre of De Kreuners or The Scabs, for example, to focus on the Belgian audience. And the Mean Woman Blues is not mean at all. It is a cover, once sung by Elvis, compelling and referring to blues guitarists like Gary Moore or Robin Trower.

The bluesy and jazzy Let Me Love You Baby, a cover of Willy Dixon, makes you feel like you’re in a smoky runway cafe along an American highway. How Many More Years is a perfect example of a real slow blues. And Wish I’d a Been There touches the boundaries of country. But throughout, it’s striking that Scott Holt’s voice fits these different styles perfectly.

It is clear that Sonic Mojo does not exude the wild energy of the 1977 live album but I guess that is not the intention of the Foghat members either. No, with this album the band delivers an excellent blues album, averse to all trends and new styles of music (extreme or otherwise). Highly recommended for the Foghat and/or blues enthusiast!

Score:

81/100

Label:

Metalville, 2023

Tracklisting:

  1. She’s a Little Bit of Everything
  2. I Don’t Appreciate You
  3. Mean Woman Blues
  4. Drivin’ On
  5. Let Me Love You Baby
  6. How Many More Years
  7. Song for Life
  8. Wish I’d Been There
  9. Time Slips Away
  10. Black Days & Blue Nights
  11. She’s Dynamite
  12. Promised Land

Line-up:

  • Scott Holt – Guitars, vocals
  • Bryann Bassett – Guitars
  • Rodney O’Quinn – Bass
  • Roger Earl – Drums

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