Holy crap, it's the Claudettes

Had this one on my Sunday long-ish run, a total blast, a Red Bull in mp3 format...the Claudettes, a piano and drumming duo, out of Oglesby IL (halfway between Chicago and St. Louis) that is irreverent enough to name one of this tracks "The Land of Precisely Three Dances." This is manic, jackhammer piano blues, not traditional by any means, but hard to pinpoint exactly why it's not (it's faster than most, but that's not it).

Anyway, super fun to listen to, even more fun to watch.

Here's part of a review of their live show from the Chicago Sun Times.

"This is [pianist Johnny] Iguana’s first project fusing his blues and punk sides, and all points between. Teenage heroes Mike Watt, Joe Strummer and Junior Wells all inhabit his barrelhouse piano, revealing themselves in surprising ways. {Drummer Michael} Caskey’s sticks have served Koko Taylor and Chuck Mangione. He’d probably have anchored Raymond Scott’s madcap jazz, had their careers overlapped."

Try to find another pianist who’ll admit lifting a Minutemen outro for his swinging ballroom blitz, as Iguana did for “Hammer and Tickle.” Then check “Deep Soul for High Society,” which owes audible debts both to Ray Charles and the Meat Puppets.