ROOTSTIME...June 2010

Things may not work with the Greek monetary situation and this perhaps, is a good reason for the people to get the blues. Witness the new album from Small Blues Trap, a band that caught our attention a few years back and since then we tend to follow. They knew immediately charmed us when their 2008 "Crossroad Ritual" album was released and sent to us for review. This was mainly due to the distinctive voice of Paul Karapiperis, which sounds like Waits at his most bluesy songs.

Sometime later, the solo album of Paul was released titled: "Fifteen Rain Drops In An Ocean Of Blues". The album has a soundtrack character and features without losing its blues influences. Greeks are not new to the emotions that the blues music triggers. Like the Portuguese who have their own version of the blues called “fado”, the Greeks have their Rembetica" which is the pure Greek version of the blues. We must also remember that some great blues artists were of Greek descent like Nick Gravenites, the less known Alexis Korner and even Johnny Otis. So the foundation is there. However, these guys managed to make a purer blues album based more on the American roots.

If we compare the three releases of the band so far, this is definitely the best, because first and foremost it is more based on pure blues music which was missing from their previous work as we have mentioned before. The previous CD was more experimental but the new one is more bluesy and well played. The voice and the excellent harmonica of Paul Karapiperis constitute the driving force of the music the band plays. However, in this particular album, the guitarist Panagiotis Daras seems to employ the guitar riffs and solos of another great guitarist he rather seems to admire, Mark Knopfler. Listen to the track «Seven Plus" and you know what I mean. The rhythm section of Besios Lefteris (bass) and Stathis Evageliou (drums) provide an ideal base from which Paul and Panagiotis can unfold and exhibit their great composing abilities.

The Small Blues Trap Above are able to create a beautiful atmosphere with their songs, and with this new CD, they prove that can play and work on projects without the need of gimmicks and sound effects. Therefore, we can only note that this "Red Snakes & Bats Cave" is a wonderful, atmospheric blues album. Besides, Rembetica, Greece has the opportunity to enjoy the sounds of Delta and Chicago Blues by a native band that can make everyone there be very proud of. The Small Blues Trap.

Ronny Bervoets