There is not much new to what Rich Hope does, save the crunchiness.
You could call his blues a white-boy, minimalist sock-hop strain were
it not for the many twists and turns his guitar navigates. On the slow
numbers like “Death Bed Blues,” he’ll remind you of The Black Keys.
When the tempo’s up, it’s as close as Vancouver gets to Friday night in
Mississippi. The earth-moving approach of Hound Dog Taylor or R.L.
Burnside comes in handy when it’s mostly a two-man setup with drummer
Adrian Mack. Suspicion is the live show would kill, or at least bruise.
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2009.