I'd never heard of this guy until Mark Lamarr had him as a guest a few weeks ago. Turns out he was at the Jazz Cafe in July and that this album - released on Lost Highway in the US and Wrasse in the UK - has been getting some attention here.

Joe's a young blues-soul singer & guitarist. On Lamaar he said the first record he bought was MC Hammer's Can't Touch This aged 12 and his dad used to play him the soul originals to match the samples in the rap records he loved. So he has looked backwards but not in that horrible Joss Stone type retro fit. Instead, he fuses a raw JB type groove with a Magic Sam/ Junior Wells type funky blues and blows the whole thing up.

This 30 minute - yes, not a wasted second - album is a blast! The most fun I've had with any album released this year. His band the Honeybears are tight and smoking and Joe really knows how to deliver. This band must be great live, the perfect Saturday night dance band. Joe's a good songwriter too - all originals here (except the instrumental Humpin') - and Get Yo Shit is the funniest song I've heard in ages. It builds like a Richard Pryor skit and when Joe screams "White man at the door!" it just cracks me up.

How good is this album? I can't think of another new release I've enjoyed this much in 09. Like the best work of Andre Williams, Howlin' Wolf and AC/DC it is vulgar, in your face, full of crunchy guitar, imaginative riffs, swinging rhythms and the sense that the musicians are having a great time doing this. For those who like this kind of music, well, you are in for a treat!