Campus Cirle Magazine, Los Angeles

We’ve all pretty much played the grooves off that White Stripes record by now, and if you’re like me, you’ve been itching for a new rock and roll fix to equal the rush of the first time you spun White Blood Cells. The answer to your prayers, friends, is Ghosts of Arkadelphia, the storming new CD from Boston’s Grubstake, who may not have that smokin’ hot chick behind the drum kit, but otherwise they’ve got the bluesy stripped-lean rock thing down pat. How Detroit failed to produce these guys is beyond me.

Seriously, you’ll have trouble listening to the second half of the album, because you won’t want to stop playing the second track, “Recession Blues 2001,” over and over again. Spare and ruthless and just a minute-and-a-half long, it runs over you like an old steam engine, but you’re going to have to pry your hand away from the repeat button long enough to get to the CD’s later songs, which are even better. Starting with “Familiar Ring,” which shuffles along like a Rufus Wainwright tune done up mean in a smoky biker bar, the band starts layering in accordion sounds, giving the songs a rich, swampy stomp. Lead singer Pat McHugh’s voice turns a little arch, and his guitar lines get a little more fluid, just as Rocket1000’s percussion tightens up even further around him, and Ghosts of Arkadelphia turns downright sweeping.

It closes with an astonishing tour through the possibilities of blues rock, from the gritty punk of “Ballad of Sharon de Paygne” through the crooning Prince-like come-ons of “Bimbo Akimbo,” and into a spooky, glockenspiel-haunted closing meditation called “CVS HQ.” The record is a little tough to find in stores, but you can order it through the band’s website, www.grubbies.net. You’ll be glad you did.

Grade: A
– Steven Hanna