Blue Giant

Blue Giant

Blue Giant flexes its muscles on its self-titled debut album while treading the line between buoyant pop/rock and brooding honky-tonk country. Married duo Kevin and Anita Robinson (ex-Viva Voce) front this Portland, Oregon-based combo with aching-to-aggressive vocals and sturdy guitar-work, ably supported by Chris Funk’s mournful pedal steel lines and Evan Railton’s thumping drums. The band’s songs are steeped in emotional unease and romantic torment, with the tone ranging from the melancholy (“Lonely Girl,” “Reasons to Cry”) to the defiant (“The Game,” “Go On”). Blue Giant is equally capable of folk-jam-style choruses and Beatles-y bridges, fusing the two strains on melodically moody tracks like “When Will the Sun Shine” (an appropriate number for a Pacific Northwest group) and “Wesley.” For all the angst displayed in these tracks, ferocious rockers like “Clean the Clock” find them shaking off the gloom. Blue Giant is an album of brains and brawn, the work of seasoned players flying high on new inspiration.

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