North Mississippi Allstars: Electric Blue Watermelon : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Ever since they tried to resurrect a handful of Mississippi blues legends on their ambitious, heavy 2000 debut, Shake Hands With Shorty, the North Mississippi Allstars have gradually streamlined their backwoods squall into a jammy, shabbily tuneful sound that sometimes seems custom-designed to kill at Bonnaroo. On Electric Blue Watermelon, brothers Cody (on drums) and Luther Dickinson (on guitar and vocals) deliver an unfussy mix of soulful ramblin'-man anthems, Allmans-style rave-ups and even some hip-hop moves, with help from their father, producer Jim Dickinson. On "No Mo," Memphis MC Al Kapone drops a heavily drawled hook over a slide-guitar groove, and on the breezy "Hurry Up Sunrise," the Allstars contemplate blue skies and better days with help from Lucinda Williams, who has also made the blues her own. Electric Blue Watermelon sometimes suffers from roots-rock blandness, but it delivers enough open-armed mojo to satisfy purists and curious young'uns alike.