Eliza Neals: Sweet Or Mean Review
Accompanied by producer and guitarist Ted Horowitz (AKA Popa Chubby), Dave Keyes on keys, Chris Gambaro-Vega on bass, John Medeiros Jr. on drums, Ian Hendrickson-Smith on saxophone, and Michael Leonhart on trumpet, Eliza Neals returns with Sweet Or Mean. This electrifying EP shows off Eliza’s impressive vocals with tracks just as impressive as the rest of her discography.
Sweet Or Mean opens with “Pawn Shop Blues”. The song’s bright sound over a bumping blues rhythm suits the song’s playful lyrics and Eliza’s voice is the cherry on top. From the beginning, there is a clear blues influence on Eliza’s work. Despite the sharp electric guitar and classic rock drumlines, Sweet Or Mean features standard blues chord progressions and song structure. For example, “Bitten By The Blues” makes use of the repetitive nature of blues with a very catchy and sassy chorus. “Livin With Yo Mama” is a unique combination of 12 bar blues with grinding electric guitar and classic rock keyboard riffs. The backing vocals in the song are also reminiscent of the call and response aspect of blues. “Knock Knock Knockin” leans further on the side of rock in terms of musicality. However, the looser acoustic sound makes it equally hybrid as the other songs in addition to making it stand out against the other heavily electric songs.
Sweet Or Mean is a delight for blues rock fans to listen to. Eliza shows the potential of the overlap between both genres while making songs that are enjoyable enough to listen to at parties and sing along to in concert.
The Review: 8/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– Bitten By The Blues
– Livin With Yo Mama
– Knock Knock Knockin
The Big Hit
– Bitten By The Blues
Review by Sabrina Tian
