Album Review: Blues Traveler - Suzie Cracks The Whip

These guys have been around for 25 years now, and I suppose have never really translated to Australian audiences in the way other American acts, like The Spin Doctors for instance, who early on – when they were The Trucking Company – shared singer and harmonica player John Popper and drummer Brendan Hill with the Travelers, or singer Joan Osborne, who featured as a backing singer on a couple of tracks on their eponymous debut album from the '90s. In the States, Blues Traveler has long been a mainstay second-division act; popular yet credible enough to feature at both the dubious Woodstock '94 and 2008's Lollapalooza, and even make a guest appearance in a feature film, Blues Brothers 2000.

Essentially a classic American blues-rock five-piece with a healthy dose of New Orleans funk and a dash of country, in the duet I Don't Wanna Go, which features Crystal Bowersox for good measure, Suzie Cracks The Whip, despite its unlikely title, is a solid collection that includes four cowrites – Recognize My Friend, Devil in The Details, Things Are Looking Up and Love Is Everything (That I Describe) – with Ron Sexsmith, which in itself should tell you something of the respect which these guys command. It's certainly a tougher album than their last, 2008's North Hollywood Shootout, with Popper in fine voice and as sinuous as ever on the old gob iron.

I've read a couple of reviews that decided what we have here is “roots pop”, and while it's more than that, it's a pretty good reductive thumbnail summary. But the album also has all the appealing AOR (Adult-Oriented Rock) elements that just might see Blues Traveler invited back – they were here in 2009 – to play Byron Bluesfest.