Customer Reviews

Alligator Love Cry

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alligator Love Cry is a terrific album which infuses new life into the blues, jazz, soul, and beyond. Great singing from the incomparable Mike Mattison and heartfelt, emotional songs throughout. A must for all, especially roots music devotees.

I absolutely love Alligator Love Cry! Every song on the CD is well written and the musicians are great. I particularly like the gritty, gutsy lead vocals. I have been telling all my friends to buy this one.

I saw Scrapomatic open for Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi and thought they were fantastic. I am thrilled with Alligator Love Cry. Every song on this album is great, whether it's the crunchy blues of Horsemeat or the beautiful duet with Kristina Beaty on The Other Side.

When I discovered this crew at my local library, I hurried to buy both their albums! As an old golden-age rocker, I found echoes of Howlin' Wolf,the Allman Bros.,Pinetop Perkins,and Dr. John all rattling around in their music. As a veterano who didn't stay stuck in the 60s/70s, I also hear a lot that reminds me of Mountain Con, A3, and the rest of the best and brightest of the new innovators. Alligator Love Cry and Sidewalk Caesars. Get 'em!

I love this album if you like dirty sounding blues this is the CD for you. Mike Mattison shows a side that you wouldn't hear in Derek Trucks Band, and Paul Olsen is a fantastic writer definetly pick this one up.

In my old age I find it difficult to get overenthousiastic about an album these days.

'Alligator love cry' being the exception.

The right mixture of jazz, blues, country and scat all done in a son-of-Waits voice.

A well deserved five stars.

Mike Mattison and Paul Olsen are the men behind Scrapomatic, a rootsy duo that takes inspiration from the blues, old-time swing and rough and ready singer songwriters like Frank Morey and Tom Waits. Much like those two gentlemen, Scrapomatic draws character studies and working class tales of love, work and play in its songs. Their music has a rustic feel with acoustic instruments and little brass and other instrumentation on occasion. The up tempo tracks are the one I believe work the best, because they put Mattison's gruff vocals to better use than the ballads like "The Other Side" which drains the scruffy energy out of the music. Stomping fast paced tracks like "Graveside Blues" and "Goddamn Job" make the best use of the duo's minimalistic setup making for a scrappy and endearing sound. This is a fairly good album and shows that the group has a lot of promise. If they can develop some more nuanced songwriting that avoids clinches and develop a sound unique from their influences, this group could make a real statement on the roots music scene.

I have seen this band in concert and absolutly love their blend of the blues. Alligater Love cry is a disapointment. Never really goes anywhere. I will continue to catch them live whenever they come to town.