What Blues Pills serve up, like The White Stripes or Rival Sons before them, is a perfect transmission of warm rock’n’roll from a time gone by that effortlessly slinks along with natural swagger, without ever feeling studied. The opening stomp of Proud Woman and the fuzzy heft of Low Road immediately open the door on a place where rock’n’roll is full of soul, the riffs are from that sweet spot where the blues was getting faster and louder, and the best occasion in which to have a good time is all of the time.
As ever, it’s Elin’s incredible voice that gives Holy Moly! so much of its charisma. Her vocals – in the raw but beautiful tradition of Janis Joplin, Grace Slick and Mama Cass – are incredible here, melodically high and gorgeous, with a rough edge that gives so much weight to the shaking Rhythm In The Blood, while on the softer, slightly folky, Wish I’d Known, it’s a gentle breeze over the top.