Little Devils
Album: Diamonds & Poison
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Website: http://littledevilmusic.com/

Little Devils may be a new name to you [they were to me] unless, of course, you have seen them live or heard them on the Paul Jones Blues programme on Radio 2.

Yes, they are known as a blues band, but they are certainly more than that. Their music includes elements of jazz-rock, blues -rock and soul. If I was asked to describe their sound, I would say, imagine The Blockheads fronted by Grace Slick in her prime.

The band formed in 2010, when they released their first album "This Is How It Starts ". By 2011, they were voted "Best Live Band" by Playmusic Magazine. In the same year, their song, the dramatic "Black Diamond " was featured by the BBC's Look North , in a programme about the 50th anniversary of the Easington Pit Disaster, in which 83 miners died. The band's bass player and songwriter Graeme Wheatley has a personal connection to the disaster in that his grandfather only escaped being killed because he was off sick on the day it happened [his grandfather's brother was, however, one of the victims].

Apart from Graeme, Little Devils are :- Yoka [the Dutch Diva] on vocals and flute; Vivienne Soan on sax and backing vocals; Spike on lead guitar and Bill Austin on drums.

The album gets off to a rocking start with the apocalyptic "Party at the End of Time ", which foretells the end the world and "No one will be saved ". The song, like the rest of the album features the fine sax playing of Vivienne. The riff of the next song " Don't Close the Door" reminds me somewhat of "Get Ready " the 1966 hit for The Temptations, which is no bad thing. This is a love song which was, apparently, originally called "Don't Kill The Kat"!

The third track is the aforementioned "Black Diamond ",which is an excellent song, the performance of which does it full justice. The song features superb vocals and flute by Yoka, together with powerful sax and guitar solos from Vivienne and Spike respectively. The song mourns not only the miners who died in the explosion but also the closure of the mine " They said they'd all remember, no one would be forgot, but they closed the mine, killed the town and left them all to rot ". As Yoka says " This song goes straight to your heart and squeezes it tight, very tight ".

"Soho By Night [Beds of Broken Dreams ]" is about the seedy side of that particular district of London and features Graeme's best Mark Knopfler-alike vocals [and a tasty flute solo from Yoka]. Graeme also takes lead vocals on "21st Century Blues".

"Little Boy Lost" is a funky number, in which Yoka gets to admonish a "little boy lost trying to be a man". "Orphans of the Storm" is a moving song about the downtrodden and expoited members of society and shares the same sentiments as Ralph McTell's "Streets of London". Yoka's stunning vocals are echoed by some great sax playing from Vivienne and then a superb, bluesy guitar solo by Spike. The song builds to a crescendo, by which time Yoka is in full Janis Joplin mode.

"Head in the Clouds" is one of my favourite tracks on the album. It's a prime slice of blues rock with all the necessary ingredients- driving beat, great slide guitar and harmonica and Yoka's best Grace / Janis vocals. Excellent stuff.

The album closes with, appropriately enough, "Last Orders", another uptempo rocker.

Overall, this is an excellent album with fine songwriting and musicianship. In Yoka they have a powerful yet melodic Dutch Diva.

Peter Cowley