Cold Chocolate
Album: This Old Way
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 5
Website: http://www.coldchocolatemusic.com/

"Crunching bluegrass, funk and Americana into one tasty treat", runs the header on their website - and that's a pretty good summation of this feisty new quartet who hail from the vibrant acoustic scene in Boston (Mass.). The band's guitarist/songwriter Ethan Robbins is on a mission to prove to the world the truth of his unambiguous belief that bluegrass music is meant to be fused with the backbeat of funk. This isn't an entirely new concept, but he and his fellow-musicians Kirsten Lamb, James McIver and Ariel Bernstein make an accessible fist of his thesis, and the resulting music ain't likely to fail in getting you up off your chair.

Follow Arrows may be a bit of a headlong rush, but must be rather fun live. For the duration of the disc's 19 minutes though, the combination of Ariel's super-funky backbeat and Kirsten's driving syncopated bass with James's hyperactive jazzy banjo is quite irresistible, but Ethan's guitar chops don't really come into their own except on the closing track The Levee. The songs themselves could do with being a touch stronger too (in that respect I'm not sure there's quite enough contrast to sustain this approach for a whole full-length album).

David Kidman