Jeremiah Johnson - Unemployed Highly Annoyed

Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 release. This is the second album this year from multi-talented blues and roots rocker and is his best yet. This deals with the theme of the Covid 19 pandemic. Eight striking tunes with a familiar nod to Southern-style musicality. Starting with the visceral tones of Burn Down The Garden, this is a truly organic album. Muddy Black Water is a haunting powerful tune, his vocals rise with the rhythm section. Cherry Red Wine is a wonderful reinterpretation of Luther Allison's tune. Some venomous guitar licks here mix with the lyrics, a blues song for this generation. Daddy Is Going Out Tonight, has a country tinge adding to the musical variation and effortless guitar work. Title track, Unemployed Highly Annoyed tells it how it is and desperation about the lockdown rules and regulations and losing civil liberty. There's a groove to this that bites, "you can't call it freedom if you haven't a choice" being the message of a very powerful song. Different Plan For Me is a plea from the heart a perfect blues song about facing unemployment. Love And Sympathy again relates to keeping his sanity in his family relationship. Rock N' Roll For The Soul epitomizes every music lover's desire to see and hear live music again. The listener can relate to every lyric on this album, the band sucks you in from the start and there is no release from the honesty here. A stunning masterpiece, a testament to these troubled times.