[rating=8.00]
The North Mississippi Allstars have never strayed too far from the blues of their native South (apart from the mainstream rock of Polaris that is). But not since the raw, gutsy likes of their debut recording have they immersed themselves so fully and unabashedly in their main influences as they do on World Boogie Is Coming.
Sounding for all intents and purposes like one of those rare impromptu jam sessions turned transcendent, this seventeen-track work includes contributions from a multiplicity of like-minded musicians in addition to the two men who helm the project, guitarist/vocalist Luther Dickinson and his brother drummer/vocalist Cody. Its title taken from a saying oft-quoted by their late father Jim (who produced and played with the disparate likes of The Rolling Stones and the Replacements), what might turn into a sprawling self-indulgence becomes an exercise in authenticity during cuts including “Cuttin’ Shorty.” An aural component of a larger project involving film, the album is vivid on its own terms.
The familiar strains of Luther’s voice on “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” anchors the track sequence as it’s placed between “Goat Meat” (one of two tracks where Robert Plant plays harp) and “Boogie,” both tracks variations on the primal forms upon which the siblings cut their teeth. As much a primer in the genre as an exploration of its almost endless variations, World Boogie Is Coming works like a sonic time-elapse trek through style where the electricity of “Snake Drive” plays off the acoustic textures that surround it.
There’s a wondrous sense of (re)discovery here, so much so that, even if the melodic and lyric motifs are familiar, NMA & co.’s delivery of those themes refreshes. The interpolation of male and female vocalists contrast as effectively as the instruments, played by stalwart bassist Chris Chew, the likeminded Alvin Youngblood not to mention archival recordings a fife & drum complement. in homage to the late Otha Turner and The Dickinson boys’ deepest roots. Antique sonic quality alternates with resounding clarity here too, imparting a conscious continuity to the album that nevertheless does not undermine its spontaneity.
There might be those listeners, fans and dilettantes alike, who find The North Mississippi Allstars in soil already well-tilled with tracks like “My Babe.” Yet it’s fair to say, at this juncture in their career, The Dickinsons are due a recapitulation: “I’m Leaving,” to name just one cut here, represent an uncanny grasp on an elemental style that, if it never gets old, goes in and out of fashion at such regular intervals that works like World Boogie Is Coming are absolutely indispensable to its continued recognition as an essential American art form.
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