Review: 'Bonham-Bullick'

Bonham-Bullick

By Mike O’Cull

Blues/rock voice-and-guitar duo Bonham-Bullick turn the heat all the way up on their new self-titled album Bonham-Bullick. Vocalist Deborah Bonham (sister of late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham) and guitarist Peter Bullick are an incendiary pair of talents with a magic touch when it comes to blues, rock, and soul material and have recorded this 13-song effort of some of their old and new favorites.

The record spans 70 years of outstanding music from old masters like O.V. Wright, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and Ann Peebles as well as contemporary greats including Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), and Chris Wilson. Bonham produced the sessions herself and the resulting tracks were mixed by Tim Oliver at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios. The set is an album of retellings and interpretations done with respect for the past as well as an eye on the future. Special guests John Baggott (Robert Plant, Portishead, Massive Attack), Paul Brown (The Waterboys, Ann Peebles, Bobby Rush), John Hogg (Magpie Salute, Moke), and Marco Giovino (Robert Plant, John Cale) help make things colorful and Bonham’s road band of Richard Newman, Ian Rowley, and Gerard Louis provide the necessary grooves and backbone.

Deborah Bonham is considered by many to be among the finest singers the UK has ever produced. She has released an acclaimed body of recorded work and performed to raves at the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium, and on the 2018 Stars Align tour of the US with Paul Rogers, Jeff Beck, and Ann Wilson. Irish-born guitarist Peter Bullick has paid dues all over the UK and continental Europe, gaining many positive notices in the press along the way. He has also toured with Paul Rogers and appeared on Rogers’ Billboard Chart-topping live BluRay, CD, DVD, and triple-vinyl set on Quarto Valley Records. Together, these two make a formidable unit that will blow your mind and rock your soul.

Bonham-Bullick opens with the moody and atmospheric “See You Again,” which was written by Rolling Stones backup vocalist Bernard Fowler. Bonham wraps herself all the way around this powerful cut, going from whispered confessions to bold and passionate phrases. Bullick’s guitar answers her call throughout the arrangement with emotive lines and stellar tones. It’s an epic song that quickly sets the attitude and altitude levels for the rest of the platter.

Albert King’s “Can’t You See What You’re Doing to Me” becomes a thumping, mid-tempo shuffle here full of Bullick’s absolutely ripping guitar lines and Bonham’s ferocious vocals. The rhythm section deserves some love, too, rising and falling telepathically with the intensity of the front of the band. This is blues/rock writ large, as it was intended to be, and really shows the might that Bonham-Bullick can put down.

One of the record’s highest points is Bonham-Bullick’s take on “Bleeding Muddy Water” by recently-deceased Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan. The entire group delivers big-time here, getting heavy, haunting, and deep into the pulse of this blues-drenched lament. It’s a breathtaking track, especially considering Lanegan’s passing earlier this year, and the emotions it generates will sit you down and keep you listening. Is it the best song on the album? You’ll have to decide that for yourself but a lot of other groups are going to wish this one was on their records.

“What Did I Do Wrong” by Allen Toussaint is a tough-but-tender song about the search for reasons when love goes sideways. Bonham kills the vocal mic on this one, flooding the track with the pain of the person left behind. She nails the heartbreak of it dead-on and will make listeners physically feel her tears and frustration. Be sure to also check out Bonham-Bullick’s work on Stephen Stills’ “Sit Yourself Down” and the gospel hymn “When This World Comes to an End.” Bonham-Bullick is one heck of a ride from end to end and belongs on every short list of 2022’s most vital new releases. Don’t let it pass you by.

Watch “Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me”