Perhaps the White Stripes' greatest contribution to contemporary culture has been convincing folks that you don't really need three people for a power trio; with all due respect to Mike Watt and Bootsy Collins, not that many folks want to play bass, so why not just do without? Welsh rockers Henry's Funeral Shoe sound like a classic-era power trio with just a bit of punch missing in the low end, and on their debut album, Everything's for Sale, you might not miss it if you aren't really looking. Aled Clifford's big, chunky guitar tones (often augmented with slide licks) are rich enough to fill plenty of space on their own, and between his mucho gusto singing and Brenning Clifford's muscular drumming, there's more than enough energy here to suggest a phantom third member. The Clifford brothers have also learned how to crank up the blues power, and Everything's for Sale boasts both stripped-down force and high-impact emotional energy, with Aled's vocals suggesting both Tom Waits' grit and Nick Cave's gravitas while the guitar roars with gutbucket conviction and a rocker's desire to turn that volume knob to the right. Henry's Funeral Shoe are a truly fine band, regardless of their small size, and Everything's for Sale suggests they're getting there as songwriters, through they haven't quite arrived yet; a few too many cuts on this set are standard-issue blues rock workouts that get by on adrenaline and strong guitar work rather than fresh melodic ideas. But what's good on Everything's for Sale is very good indeed, and for a band that had been together for just a year when they cut this album, Henry's Funeral Shoe are clearly rookies to watch, and they should create something even stronger with a little more seasoning.
© Mark Deming /TiVo