REVIEWS Table by the Wall – The Bad Day Blues Band A review by Sophia Ramirez, Editorial Team The Bad Day is an exciting new blues-rock band, with Adam Rigg on the vocals and bass guitar, Sam Spranger on the harmonica, Nick Peck on the guitar, and Herman Moura on the drums. They opened for Grammy winner Delbert McClinton at Times Square in 2017, and since then have been rapidly on the rise, winning Best New Blues Band in the 2019 Digital Blues Awards and playing two critically acclaimed performances at The Isle Of Wight Festival in 2018 and 2019. Raw and volcanic and, as Classic Rock Magazine describes, ‘ludicrously good fun’, the group’s debut album has been much anticipated. Happily, in Table by the Wall, they’ve brought all that celebrated energy into the studio for music that dares you not to tap your feet and jam along. Table by the Wall explodes into existence with a riotous cover of Hold On, I'm Coming, Spranger’s swinging harmonica working in partnership with Rigg’s soulful voice, the sound swelling as his vocals get more intense. The title track Table by the Wall comes next, fast and high-octane, with vocals for the most part on the same level as the other instruments, everything sharing the spotlight and working together to build the rip-roaring tunes – this helps create an overall feel of electricity and fun. While the album is certainly uproarious and wild, it’s also masterful at pacing, knowing where to slow down to give the listener a chance to keep up. For instance, Wandering Man starts slow and more low-key with an easy-going beat, and then gets crazier, blasting humorous lyrics like "I've got five little kids and no damn socks'' amidst rocking instrumentals. It’s followed by Jump, which keeps the momentum going with a bouncy guitar beat that blossoms into head-bopping energy and life. However, nowhere is this vast range of pacing more apparent than the final track, Luna Rooms, which starts super mellow, the languid voice and sleepy-eyed instrumentals telling a story full of peaceful imagery by the river, until it suddenly ramps up halfway into a full-on frenzy of dynamic guitar and wailing harmonica. Through all this, Sam Spranger’s harp playing truly shines, most notably in the track Stop. In the midst of an intense rock orchestra, the harmonica’s solo surfaces, clean and hypnotic and clear as water. As the album was released in 2021, one can imagine all the obstacles faced in recording during lockdown, and the creativity needed to overcome them. Fortunately, the pandemic didn’t stop the creation of this lively and thriving album, that gives the listener everything from serene melodies to unrestrained riffs, mild to explosive, and still leaves them wanting more.
Winter 2021/2022 • Harmonica.uk
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