One's Enough

From the blistering flurry of notes from the album's opener "Your Lying Ways," you know you're definitely in Stevie Ray Vaughan-abee territory. There isn't a tone in Young Neal Vitullo's arsenal of Strat sounds that isn't 100% SRV-approved, while the Vipers provide Double Trouble-like rhythm section support. It's like you almost know what's coming before it arrives musically. That said, Vitullo contributes eight of the 12 selections on board here, the majority of them firmly in the blues-rock mold, the rest loose frameworks for the hot guitar solos that seem to be their musical high points. Vitullo's deadpan vocals can get a little annoying after three or four tunes, but at least he doesn't resort to a heap of phony rasping to get his point across. And make no mistake about it, Young Neal can really play; fans of this style of blues-rock will find much here to enjoy, especially on tracks like "The Hunt," "Tell Me What's The Reason" and the wacky and crunching "Guitar Slinger." ~ Cub Koda Personnel: Neal Vitullo (vocals, guitar); Doug Bare (piano, organ). Recording information: King Snake Studio, Sanford, FL. Audio Mixer: Warren "King Fish" King. Photographer: Dana Siles.