Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse are one of the most exciting bands on the scene at the moment. Between Greta Valenti’s non-stop energy and Robin Davey’s massive riffs, they have a swagger and stomp about them that is purely punk in attitude and Blues in style. The rest of the band is Stephen Mildwater: Bass, Backing Vocals, Sam Robertson: Keys, Piano, Accordion, Backing Vocals, Tom Rasulo: Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion and Chris Cunningham: Bass (Marie), Backup Vocals. Trumpet: Jon-Paul Frappier & Tenor & Baritone Sax: Yuri Villar - Horn arrangements by: Daniel Kirkpatrick. Robin Davey is a Blues Hall Of Fame inductee from his time with The Hoax and he and Valenti were Well Hung Heart. The two of them have written every track here with Stephen Mildwater adding to their output.
At their heart, Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse are a live band. Every track sounds as though it will come to live onstage where you can really feel the power and energy of the band. The opener, ‘Oh Yeah’, and the second track, ‘Wild Woman’, set the album up with huge riffs and massive beats, Greta’s vocals impossibly quick. The action follows on with ‘Satisfy Your Queen’ with a terrific solo from Davey.
The rest of the album follows suit. One of my favourites is ‘I Told My Baby’, with a real surfer groove and shimmering guitar from Davey, but the track I enjoyed the most was the Cajun/zydeco groove of ‘Mama Cray’. Valenti shows the sultry side of her vocals on tracks like ‘Middle Of The Night’ and a bit of teenage falsetto on ‘Sad When I’m Dancing’. ‘The Runaway’ proves that they can handle more subtle and less energetic music – a terrific vocal and a real soulful number.
It is an album of variations, rocky and powerful in parts, and soulful Americana in others. A superb album and it shows that they are really growing as a band. If you can, go and see them as they tour the UK this year.
