Austin—Why do punk and blues make such great, timeless bedfellows? What synergy has kept Jack White, the Black Lips, and the Black Keys popular since the turn of the century? How, 15 years later, has Benjamin Booker made something new and thrilling in a subgenre that appeared to be all out of new frontiers? Whatever Booker is doing, it brought out Austinites in droves to see him play last Wednesday at Mohawk.
Booker—Best New Bands’ Featured Artist last August—handles himself with a lot of confidence for someone who got his start just two years ago in New Orleans. Not just on stage—Booker’s eponymous debut record, released last August, has a personality rarely seen in debuts. Its songwriting is focused, mature, in touch with its roots and comfortable with them. And while Booker’s tenure in New Orleans hasn’t been very long, it’s compelling to think that that city’s musical heritage is a factor in what Booker is doing so well—putting blues on equal footing with punk. There seems to be a distinctive tendency in contemporary blues-inspired music to leave off the most distinctive parts of the blues—the licks, the distinctive 12-bar progressions, and the walking bass are a few. Maybe there’s an anxiety that that slow, rural melancholy won’t marry well with the hard-nosed attitude of punk and garage rock. If so, Booker puts those worries to bed.
You’ll know what you’re in for as soon as you hear the opening riff on “Violent Shiver.” It could be easily mistaken for a Little Richard song until the first chorus, where it turns into a fuzzy, 2-chord garage rock grind. Insofar as punk aspired to get back to the roots of rock and roll, “Violent Shiver” accomplishes that—it sets blues progressions to a raucous beat, creating something energetic, propulsive, and catchy. It’s a great album opener, a great introduction to Booker’s sound, and a great warm-up exercise for the crowd.
There are places where those blues flavors don’t have a place, and there Booker’s distinctiveness fades. Fortunately his talent doesn’t. “Old Hearts” sounds like it could as easily be a Japandroids song, but that doesn’t make it any less a testament to his songwriting. You could even maybe think of it as a reminder that punk is just as important a resource as blues for Booker’s music, even if it’s his skillful manipulation of blues that stands out. That’s all beside the point; “Old Hearts” has a charming lyrical innocence welded to a fast, high-pitched two-chord chorus that makes for a great shout-along.
Booker’s process works to enliven older material, too. Booker enjoys covers, but his cover of the super oldie “Lil’ Liza Jane” is a highlight of his live show. Most of the song is a tease, with sparse accompaniment to driving drums while Booker croons the vocals. The guitar and the bass bust in at the chorus giving it a noisy, jump-around crescendo. And in the best tradition of folk, Booker demands that the audience participate.
If you watched the video above, you may have noticed Booker chastising the members of the crowd for not getting involved. Which may be annoying for the crowd, but it’s an interesting flicker of a personality that turns revivalism into a life motto. Booker would be noteworthy if he were only good at resuscitating older genres, but he also projects the get-off-your-ass-and-change-your-life energy of a camp meeting, an atmosphere that just so happens to make for a one-of-a-kind live set.
I don’t need to qualify my recommendation here: you should go see this show. Booker is taking a break from touring for most of May, but on the 28th he’ll kick off a summer tour that will stop at destinations all over North America and Europe.
Until then, get cozy with Benjamin Booker’s debut album—it’s pretty good summer time music.
Photo of Benjamin Booker live by Will Jukes
Will Jukes
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