Ghalia Volt

Shout Sister Shout

Ruf

We have one quick clarifier before we get started.  The title may cause some, like this writer, to think this is a tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and an album of the same name did just that. The Belgian-born, ever-evolving, once one-woman band Ghalia Volt is not in that territory at all on Shout Sister Shout although she carries the icon’s empowerment message in the title track. We’ve heard her absorb the New Orleans style of blues and perhaps are most familiar with her North Mississippi Hill Country style, first honed with Cody Dickinson before she embarked on a couple of years of constant during as the One Woman Band. The restless and nomadic Volt makes yet another turn, retreating to the desert, and specifically Joshua Tree, CA, site of Gram Parsons and a whole bunch of bandwagon ‘90s bands, looking to recreate the ‘70s in some psychedelic way.  Volt holed up in Queens of the Stone Age guitarist and producer David Catching Rancho De La Luna Studios, having brought in a dozen songs that she eventually recorded with former Dr. John keyboardist Ben Alleman and Lou Reed’s longtime drummer, Danny Frankel. Catching chimes in on guitar on select tracks.

As we’ve seen on several desert-based albums (the Seattle/L.A. funk band High Pulp, the soul-blues of Catfood Records), Volt speaks about the relaxing vibe, the ghosts who still linger in the walls, and all kinds of imagery and emotions that the desert conjures unlike any other place. Specifically, in this studio she’s following the likes of the Foo Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, and Eagles of Death Metal to cite a few. She says, “But here I’m bringing a kinda psychedelic, almost ‘70s rock vibe to the picture. And recording it in a studio that prizes the ‘90s…which as we know is a revival of the ‘70s! My goal was to get this album more modern, with more hooks, catchy licks, more singalongs.”  Well, she may have contradicted herself with ‘modern’ and ‘70s but so be it. It’s a band album and one she feels most proud of.

She’s got the riffs/hooks/singalong thing down from the outset in “Every Cloud” while still retaining her stomping style that carries over from the One Woman Band and Hill Country sound. Alleman’s organ solo brings a heavy dose of psychedelia. In the word in a soul-blues turned raging guitar driven “Changes” she recites each letter of the word, as in the famous R-E-S-P-E-C-T. (wasn’t that a ‘60s thing?  Oh well.). “Can’t Afford To Die” plays to an insistent, choppy rockabilly beat but the lyrics are far more celebratory, expressing the sobering thought that a musician often scrapes so hard just to make ends meet that a funeral may too be unaffordable. The acoustic “Insomnia” with its strumming and nifty percussion from Frankel casts Volt more in folksinger mode with Alleman again shrouding it in a psychedelic haze.

As mentioned, the title track has gospel tinges and is imbued with layered vocals and fiery fretwork. This will likely be a crowd favorite in live performance, where the audience will join in on the chorus. “No Happy Home” plays to a brisk tempo and has the kind of kick drum thump of her One Woman Band while “She’s Holding You Back” features her raw, slicing slide guitar. The repetitive refrains of standout “Can’t Have It All” while rooted in traditional blues, move into wild, rocking mode with Alleman’s swirling organ and Volt’s piercing guitar. The intensity and impassioned vocals ratchet up further on “Hell Is Not Gonna Deal With You,” with Frankel raising all kinds of just that on his kit.  “Hop a Ride,” featuring more slide guitar and classic blues riffs is a co-write with label mate Eddie 9V. “Dog Ya Around” is another sassy, guitar riffing raveup, perfectly setting up the closer “Po’ Boy John” where she envisions a vintage guitar (apparently there were all kinds of them in the studio) that could talk as ironically the most notable instrument in the track is Alleman’s barrelhouse piano.

Look for Volt on the road, playing with a band this time. She’s a terrific live presence and one can only imagine her energy when unbounded from her sit-down-encased-in-instruments One Woman Band act. She’s got an exciting batch of songs with this one.

• Jim Hynes

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