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"Swamp rocking duo Mississippi Witch inhabit a world where black-hearted men, gap-toothed women, liquor, guns and old time religion collide with combustable results. Oli Walker's fabulously raw vocals and rusty string guitar slashes recall Leadbelly and Tom Waits jamming with The White Stripes: filthy rock'n'roll doesn't come much purer than this"..

*****Q Magazine

"Just For Roosevelt is a Led Zeppelin sized romp that includes one of the favourite themes of bluesmen – travelling around America having sex and killing people".

****The Skinny Magazine

".Filthy low-down twosome in late bid for album of the year".

*****Subba-Cultcha

"A debut so weighty in scope that it touches nigh on all of Mississippi's musical traditions, yet so vital that it couldn't have been made at any other time by anyone else". (Tim Bailey)

*****Venue Magazine

"Walker and Danby are swimming in similar waters as Josh Homme, Trent Reznor or Jack White. Black Gamble is such an extraordinary and special debut that it revokes memories of similarly strong impacts as that caused Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the deaf".

*****Motor.De

"1974 seeks its music back".

****Spill Magazine

About

Hopper Walker - Guitar / Vocals
Dan Danby - Drums
Ben Walsh - Guitar
Ali Chant - Other / Compression

BAND

News

NEWS

$

Discography

a - Just for Roosevelt
b - Alligator Mechanics







1 just for roosevelt
2 albuquerque new mexico
3 alligator mechanics
4 black gamble
5 lampio
6 starving of the bee
7 rot foot
8 van nuys
9 white eye
10 lung full of river mud
11 calipah
12 buckshot cornflower







a - Rot Foot
a - Van Nuys

DISCOGRAPHY

Just For Roosevelt
(single)

Black Gamble
(album)

Rot Foot
(single)

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UK

USA

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AUSTRALIA

EUROPE

Live

2009
29th Oct The Lexington - London
27th Sept Colston Hall - Bristol
22nd Aug The Green Man Festival - Wales
18th Aug Fleece - Bristol
25th Mar Louisiana - Bristol
25th Feb Fleece - Bristol

2008
20th Sept Bristol Festival Ampitheatre Stage
17th May Killing Moon Fest@The Louisiana - Bristol
6th March Cooler - Bristol

2007
22nd Dec Thekla - Bristol
26th Oct The Cooler - Bristol
15th Oct Louisiana - Bristol
30th Aug Fleece - Bristol
14th Aug The Social - London
14th Jul Ashton Court Festival
(Amphitheatre Stage)
1st Jun Rockbeatstone Magazine
@The Windmill - London
29th Apr Fleece - Bristol
16th Jan FlyBar - London

2006
18th Nov Area 81 - Bristol
7th Nov The Comedy Club - London
18th Oct Big Hands - Manchester
10th Oct Rhythm Factory - London
12th Sep Watershed - London
28th Jul The Louisiana - Bristol
8th Jul Pullens Art Centre - London
7th Jul Lark in the Park - London
26th Jun Moles Club - Bath
12th Jun The Fleece - Bristol
20th Mar The Louisiana - Bristol

2005
17th Dec The Cube Theatre - Bristol

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Q MAGAZINE REVIEW

Swamp rocking duo Mississippi Witch inhabit a world where black-hearted men, gap-toothed women, liquor, guns and old time religion collide with combustable results. Oli Walker's fabulously raw vocals and rusty string guitar slashes recall Leadbelly and Tom Waits jamming with The White Stripes: filthy rock'n'roll doesn't come much purer than this..
PAUL BRANNIGAN, Q MAGAZINE

VENUE MAGAZINE (TIM BAILEY)*****

On which our two self-confessed bible belt escapees deliver everything you'd want from a duo whose moniker teams up the famous blues delta region with a practitioner of black magic - lurching, whisky-soaked bottleneck blues littered with bleak, malcontent, pistol-toting tales of the dark underbelly of Mississippi. And that's just opener (and undoubted highlight) 'Just For Roosevelt', three minutes of raw-eyed punk-blues that flattens John Spencer's entire back catalogue with a single leaden blow. But that's not to say their debut long-player is heavy handed per se (though tracks like 'Roosevelt' and 'Rot Foot' are armed with bigger hooks than the Mississippi Delta); more that 'Black Gamble' stands head and shoulders above its competition. A debut so weighty in scope that it touches nigh on all of Mississippi's musical traditions, yet so vital that it couldn't have been made at any other time by anyone else. (Tim Bailey) *****

SUBBA-CULTCHA (PAUL RAVEN)*****

Filthy low-down country-metal twosome in late bid for album of the year

I don't know who it is who picks the tracks that end up on the Guitar Hero games, but I'm going to find out, and I'm going to go to his office and play Mississippi Witch at him until he agrees to put them on the next edition. Black Gamble is one of the best guitar albums I've heard this year, and that's no mean feat.

But let me elaborate – this is not a high-precision technical guitar album, not your Steve Vai twiddly-diddly “look at my obscure new scale I just invented” stuff. Oh no – Black Gamble is a different sort of worship. It's a worship of the instrument's potential and breadth of expression, not a narcissistic glory run celebrating the player's proficiency.

The guitar playing of Oli Walker is about passion and fire, from its lazy twangy chords to its howling distorted stench of feedback and frenzy. It's amazing stuff. The drumming of Dan Danby is pretty damned awesome, too: also very proficient, thumpingly powerful and funky when required, simple and direct when necessary.

What about the rest of the band? Ha - there is no “rest of the band”! Mississippi Witch are a two-piece, though you'd be hard pressed to believe it at a first listen. Comparisons to other two-piece guitar acts are inevitable, so let me jump the gun – while there are similarities to The White Stripes, Mississippi Witch are much more like a lesser-known (but far better) act from the UK. I'm talking about Winnebago Deal, of course.

The main similarity, beyond the number of musicians involved, is that of approach. Where Winnebago Deal took heavy metal and pumped it full of rocket fuel and amphetamines before dragging it around a car-park in a bin-bag full of broken glass, Mississippi Witch have cooked up fresh rocks of blues-rock mixed with a hefty cut of grunge, thrown it into the flat-bed of a pick-up truck and driven it out to the swamplands before cudgelling it into a frenzy with shotgun butts. It's all about taking a sound and testing it to destruction ... and then riding the wreckage into the sunset.

Seriously, this is awesome stuff – the sludgy sullenness of the Deep South amped up, drugged out and driven to destruction in a blaze of border-running glory. If you don't believe me, just listen to the opening track (and recent single) “Just For Roosevelt” - if you have any love for a filthy hook-laden guitar racket, you'll be sold within the first eight bars. Same with “Rot Foot”. Same with “White Eye”. Same with ... ah, same with all of it, damn it.

And there's just two of them! I can't over-emphasise how complete this material sounds. Sure, there's some studio overdubs, but you can hear the essentials of the songs behind them, and you can hear that they work on their own, with Walker muttering and howling over his constantly-mutating guitar work, and the rock-solid rattle and bang of Danby's drumming.

Black Gamble is loud, dirty, raucous, catchy and fun – and it's the sort of record that makes you want to pick up a guitar of your own and exorcise your neighbours from the fresh graves of their beds. If Mississippi Witch sound half as good as this live, they're going to be immense.
*****

MOTOR.DE (Germany) www.motor.de

A big drum roll: here they are, Mississippi Witch! Ollie Walker and Dan Danby from Mississippi and New Mexico respectively, transferred to London some time ago, forming an informal duo and finally released their long postponed debut album onto the market. The single Just for Roosevelt has long been floating around the internet and in exclusive british vinyl shops, and everyone's craving it. Even after listening to it once, it becomes apparent that this is something extraordinary. The dirty lo-fi rock with blues-lesions (spreading/ seeping like a cancer) shocks little children from the first note. The witch has been let loose. Up to track 3, there is still hope while wading through the impenetrable and dangerously hypnotising Mississippi Delta, (in black and white of course!) that somehow you'll be able to escape. Then, however, from Black Gamble on, it starts to dawn on you there will be no way out. Mississippi Witch sends the listener on a rock and roll trip through hell. Pure, sweaty, fantastic. Walker sings of mysterious things. He wants us to follow him down, into the underworld. Wasn't that just the shadow of Tom Waits reflecting in the dirty delta water over there?

A high degree of professionalism is particularly impressive on this debut album. Heart-beating, punky to dizzy, feels like you've been shot, "blues'ed": the song writing range of Ollie walker is impressive. The riffs: uneasily catchy, and, finally, fresh again.

Lampio and Calipah prove that rock music can do more than just cause a rhythmic shaking of the head. Walker and Danby make us dizzy with their playing… they hypnotise us. Just for Roosevelt, Black Gamble and White Eye kick ass. But mainly, the cracking tracks Rude Foot and Van Nuys leave us in awe, and to my mind, rock music cannot get any better than this. Various blogs have been mumbling for some time that Mississippi Witch have got it. However, Black Gamble is such an extraordinary and special debut that it revokes memories of similarly strong impacts as that caused by Death From Above in 1979 and Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the deaf. A dangerous comparison? Over-hyped, because they're from England? Considering the continuous journalistic hysteria from "the island" (ie Britain) surrounding new acts, you might well be sceptical. This time, however, it is not just a "quick shot." On the contrary, Black Gamble not only sets the standard high for convincing and heavy rock in 2008, but with this debut, from the very start, Walker and Danby are swimming in similar waters as Josh Homme, Trent Reznor or Jack White. With no exception, everyone who loves heavy rock music that has its roots steeped in the blues should listen to this band and help spread the word. Even if it sounds over the top and clichd; the wake of Mississippi Witch's Black Gamble leaves similar ripples to those left in the days since the 2 nd White Stripes album. They are pioneers and renewers of rock. Go tell it on the mountain!


MOTOR.DE (Germany) www.motor.de

Oh oh: the next big thing alarm. However, what UK Music Search has diagnosed here is quite worth listening to, since what the 3 people from Colony2 label call their own is not the usual exchangeable IK Indie-Retro-Rock rubbish which only small-town girls in secondary school have not had enough of yet.

Better still: raw lo-fi Blues, the label says, I say wonderfully honest blues noise supplement. This works very well for 2-people combos, since they consciously refrain from soft rythmized base. The Black Keys, and once in a while the White Stripes, have brought us closer to the dangerously raw, dead-dry, dirty blues rock with "only" guitar and drums – Missisippi Witch now seem to live it and sweat it out musically with every pore. Weather they really are bible believing people who met up in small town churches in the deeply religious Lousiana chewing tobbacco can be equally taken with a smile as the meeting in the mortuary story by Death From Above back in 1979. Apparently they are a must, these strange tales of weird unperceivable bands, which appear from seemingly nowhere, starting to rock down on us making our hair stand on end.

Meanwhile they made it from the American small town church to London where Colony2, after various months of delay, will give us a taste of the seemingly formidable debut Black Gamble at the beginning of September.



RECORD NYC (MEGAN PETTY) 2008: Year of the Witch? Quite possibly.

Continuing on with our love of bands with American transplants, I’d like you to meet Oli Walker and Dan Danby, otherwise known as Mississippi Witch. I’ve already fallen head over heels for them, and now it’s your turn. The duo’s long and winding road brought them from Mississippi (Walker) and New Mexico (Danby) many thousands of miles to London, and thence to Bristol. Mississippi Witch has proven a reasonably apt moniker, as there is something spellbinding in the music. Formed in 2005, there’s a distinct 1970s vintage to their sound; heavy, heady swoons of unadulterated bluesy Southern rock with a dash of desert mysticism filtered through the misty rain and refined antiquity of London Town. Walker’s vocals and guitar bombast wouldn’t sound out of place on the mid-70s albums of many a great Southern rock band, and Danby bangs the drums with such abandon that it could be considered a minor miracle he doesn’t destroy his kit each time he plays.

Black Gamble is a monster of a debut album, and will most certainly get the blood pumping. It begins with the towering inferno otherwise known as “Just for Roosevelt,” all grit and grime resplendent with some of the dirtiest guitar riffage you’re likely to hear all year. “Alligator Mechanics” showcase some nasty banjo playing, with Walker’s voice taking an exaggerated, molasses-like tone. The title track, “Black Gamble,” shows where some English punk has seeped in to the Witch sound, with ferociously fraught guitars and a break-neck pace to oblivion. The dozen tracks are all so glutted and teeming with noise that at times it’s hard to imagine that there are only two people making such a racket.

The bottom line? This album is staggeringly good, and 2008 could be annus mirabilis for these wandering, transplanted souls of Mississippi Witch. After a few listens to Black Gamble, you’ll join me in expecting big things from Misters Walker and Danby. Head over to their website to listen to some album tracks (and then purchase it, naturally).

ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE

If the music-press is to be believed, the release of the much anticipated debut album from London-based duo Mississippi Witch can not adequately be reviewed without using the following words: 'stomping', 'raw', 'gritty', 'bourbon-soaked', or without some kind of cultural reference to the deep south. I, however, have decided to try.

Although appropriate to superficially describe the noise that Oli Walker and Dan Darby make, such a list of words completely fail to convey is the complexity of Black Gamble behind a barn-door of mock-simplicity. It is abundantly clear that these guys are excellent musicians, not only from their playing, but also from the unpredictable and excellent arrangements on tracks like 'Starving of the Bee', which breaks into quasi-psychedelic cacophony halfway through before coming back down to Earth.

It is refreshing to hear an album that contains absolutely no self-indulgent twaddle whatsoever. On the contrary, the fact that almost all of tracks dutifully come in at under 3-and-a-half minutes occasionally gives a sense of abruptness, but mainly serves to maintain the break-neck momentum of the album.

There are some rocking melodies that are immediately infectious, like the brilliant 'Van Nuys' and the debut single 'For Roosevelt', which opens the album. What is not, immediately obvious, however, is just how dark some of the writing is. With Walker's vocals guttural, deep and desperate, often drowning in an ether of fuzzy guitar dissonance and carnal drumming. The lyrics are often as unpolished and disturbing as the music: "clean the blood from the food I've been serving" (Lampio) or "I'm a modern Mussolini // Clean my rotted crown" (Starving of the Bee) but never ever dull.

Other highlights include the fast, fun title track, (which sounds not dissimilar to a certain White Stripes song), and 'Rot Foot' which manages to hint at influences from more avant-garde contemporaries like Clinic. Or maybe that's just the organ. Pinning these guys to any obvious influences is difficult as there is a lot of scope in their sound, and perhaps this is the best compliment of all. In a time where so much new music sounds horribly derived, the hugely talented Mississippi Witch have managed to reference a huge catalogue of sounds while still managing to sound both interesting and relevant.

A classy debut. Big things are expected from these two.


THE MUGHEAD REVIEW CALIFORNIA
WWW.THEMUGHEADREVIEW.COM

You may not have heard of this dynamic duo, but there is little doubt in my mind that you will… very soon.

Mississippi Witch is comprised of Oli Walker (guitar/vocals) and Dan Danby (drums). Although there are only two members of this band, the sound that explodes forth may as well been coming from five or six musicians. Their debut record “Black Gamble” will take you on gritty, soulful, ass kicking journey through the under belly of rock and roll.

These guys are both bible belt escapees (as they put it) who apparently met quite randomly at a Snake Church in Baton Rouge. Their story only gets stranger as Oli and Dan ended up in London to record their EP “Just for Roosevelt”. Oli was born in Mississippi and Dan was born in New Mexico, so you might say that these guys just go where life takes them. And thankfully so.

Oli Walker’s vocals have that elusive quality that can only come from deep within a person’s being. He has a style all his own, and he owns it well. Walker’s guitar playing absolutely shreds all over the album, from beginning to middle to end. He has all the talent of Jack White or Kurt Cobain, and when you have something like that, it doesn’t stay a secret for very long. Honestly, I almost couldn’t believe that Oli can sing and play like this at the same time.

Dan Danby is no slouch either. In fact, it would be easy to say that this duo has clear advantages over say, The White Stripes. Dan can drum for one thing. In my opinion a duo like this forms because they realize that they just don’t have the need for another band member.

My favorite tracks on the album have to be “Just for Roosevelt”, “Albuquerque New Mexico” and “Van Nuys”. But “Calipah” and the title track “Black Gamble” are up there too. I think this album should do very well to say the least. The new album is not out yet so like I said, when it does come out on January 21st, I think you will be hearing about it again.

Oli Walker will be sitting down with The Mughead Review for an interview next week too, to talk about all sorts of things, check back for that soon. As always, I recommend you listening for yourself, which you can do by going the Mississippi Witch website, as well as their myspace page.


UK MUSIC SEARCH
WWW.UKMUSICSEARCH.CO.UK

A dirty delta blues jam by way of Black Flag and AC/DC, this is the kind of thing to make you fall in love with noisy guitars and big riffs all over again.
The snake hipped charm of ALLIGATOR MECHANICS drips with deep south atmosphere and drawling blues character, Oli Walker again delivering the goods superbly.
Title track BLACK GAMBLE hardly messes with the formula, Mississippi Witch unleashing dirty distorted riffs, careering drum beats and drawling vocals by the bucketload, seamlessly merging Kings Of Leon, Mountain and The Melvins. The more languid stoner rock of LAMPIO proves that the duo can also do more expansive, further reaching material with equal skill, hypnotic drum patterns, discordantly eerie sound effects and lurching piano chords adding to Mississippi Witch's sound repertoire. STARVING OF THE BEE stretches affairs even further, a bluesy acoustic jam that recalls both Black Label Society and Kyuss.
ROT FOOT and VAN NUYS get things back to harder rocking territory, all distorted riffing and violent drums, whilst on LUNG FULL OF RIVER MUD, the band unleash the kind of noisy guitar bluster that envisions Sonic Youth in their prime.
The kind of debut to have you proclaiming the likes of "new favourite band" and "next big thing" wildly; Mississippi Witch are a band who leave you hungry and desperate for more with BLACK GAMBLE, an album well worth get extremely passionate about.


ALBUM PREVIEW
Mississippi Witch Debut Album Coming - Industry Types Shocked!

One of the most exciting releases of early 2007 is the debut album from the duo known as Mississippi Witch. The LP will be called 'Black Gamble' and will be released on Colony2 and Universal. The release date is penciled in as 20th March 2007.

The record label and other assorted slack-jawed industry types have been left with a look of shock on their faces upon hearing the complete album. We here at Rockbeatstone predict that this album will be awesome.

DANIEL WESTERLUND, ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE WWW.ROCKBEATSTONE.COM

REVIEWS

Favourite band of 2006? "Mississippi Witch as they make amazing energetic music and the song 'Just For Roosevelt' is now in my top 5 rock tunes ever".

GUY GARVEY (ELBOW/XFM MANCHESTER) WWW.XFMMANCHESTER.CO.UK



Mississippi Witch throw their toys out of the pram with foot-stomping gusto. They make a great garage racket somewhere between White Stripes and The Blues Explosion and they're also the winner of the coveted Press Release Line of the Week for being "founders of the infamous drug wave gypsy guitar solo". Marvellous penmanship, marvellous single.

CHRIS MARLING, REPEAT WWW.REPEATONLINE.CO.UK



‘Just For Roosevelt' is crazed scuzzy rock'n'roll from wild two piece, Mississippi Witch, with razor sharp demented licks slicing with a nasty bluesy edge. Utterly mad and totally insane, Mississippi Witch are like Captain Beefheart having a ruck with The Sonics, fucking ace. ‘Alligator Mechanics' is very menacing song with the sinister vocals and utterly barmy banjos. Mississippi Witch are one mighty eccentric two piece of weird and wild rock'n'roll.

SOHOSTRUT MAGAZINE WWW.SOHOSTRUT.CO.UK



Mississippi Witch are a band that will sit proudly alongside the heavyweights in my cherished vinyl collection. Just for Roosevelt is clearly head and shoulders above everything else around. Absolute genius.

FELIX BARKSDALE THE OUTFIT MAGAZINE



I’ve decided that there are few things I like more than English bands with an affinity for American rock. Mississippi Witch sound like they’ve spent the past couple years in the South, soaking up bourbon and some dirty blues. “Just for Roosevelt” is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a while; every filthy, hard-rocking, tarred-and-feathered second of it. Music is the food of love, and I say play on Mississippi Witch, play on.

MEGAN PETTY, LOOSE RECORD, NYC WWW.LOOSERECORD.COM



A genuine Delta dweller who somehow washed up on the bands of the grey ol' Thames, Mississippi Witch frontman Oli Walker brings the blues soul of back home in his staggering, drunken guitarlines and a lungful of black river mud in his gruffly intoned lyrical prophecies. New Mexico born drummer Dan Danby completes the grimy guo, and 'Just For Rooservelt's dirgy march with noisy and chaotic neo-blues beats befitting of any Jon Spencer project. Together they take you right down to the muddy roots of this blues beast.

BUBBLEGUMSLUT MAGAZINE WWW.BUBBLEGUMSLUT.CO.UK



"1976 Seeks its music back" 4/5

SPILL MAGAZINE WWW.SPILLONLINE.COM



Its The White Stripes comparisons that hit you first, Mississippi Witch, as they are a two piece guitar and drum duo playing ragged and raw lo-fi blues. Its however the Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa influence that permeates this band the strongest here on single JUST FOR ROOSEVELT. Its in Oli Walker's primal howl and riotous guitar work, riffing and yelling his way through JUST FOR ROOSEVELT like Captain Beefheart re-evigorated and ready for rock action. A dirty delta blues jam by way of Black Flag and AC/DC, this is the kind of thing to make you fall in love with noisy guitars and big riffs all over again, Mississippi Witch a band well worth get extremely passionate about. The snake hipped charm of ALLIGATOR MECHANICS drips with deep south atmosphere and drawling blues character, Oli Walker again delivering the goods superbly. The kind of debut to have you proclaiming the likes of "new favourite band" and "next big thing" wildly; Mississippi Witch are a band who leave you hungry and desperate for more.

Further listening: The White Stripes Frank Zappa Captain Beefheart

KEITH DAVIS, UKM WWW.UKMUSICSEARCH.CO.UK



‘Just For Roosevelt’ will fair blast yer brains out. It rocks ‘n’ rolls like the swamp blues monster it is and slices it’s way into your hearts and minds courtesy of great big clipped, controlled guitars. Like so many great tunes it ebbs and flows leaving you disoriented, but then there’s a torrent of guitar and drums leading into an unexpected Elvis-y bit. It’s amazing the noise a two piece can make, but Mississippi Witch create a grand racket in much the way that Two Gallants do, playing above themselves to make up for their lack of numbers. The dirty blues rock spirit lives on in bands like these.

RUSSELL BARKER, RUSSELLS REVIEWS WWW.RUSSELLSREVIEWS.CO.UK



Mississippi Witch are a 2-piece from London whose deepest roots are from Mississippi and New Mexico. The duo are Oli Walker (guitar & vocals) and Dan Danby (drums) and I was thrilled to be approached by Oli with a chance to review their single Just For Roosevelt which is released on October 2nd and is taken from their forthcoming album (which I..d love a copy of when it..s ready guys) Black Gamble. It just so happens that at the time of writing I..m watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? on the telly (muted) and listening to Mississippi Witch at the same time. Having just listened to the part of the film where the Soggy Bottom Boys record Man of Constant Sorrow I..m struck by how the underlying soul of Just For Roosevelt seems to be the same. It..s got the same blues backdrop and harmonics of the bible belt music but with a hell of a lot more backbone. It might not be easy to hear at first. It..s sunk in a whole lotta whiskey and drug fuelled rock power, but the influence is there. Just For Roosevelt, no matter what it..s roots or influences, is a down and dirty, filthy rock song, the like of which I..ve only heard hinted at by The Doors. It..s sexily aggressive, a touch of distortion on the vocal and gruesome, twisted, gnarled energy fuelling the guitar and drums. If ever there was music to dance/mosh/leap around like a thing possessed to, then this is it. Alligator Mechanics bubbles out of the swamps of the deep south like a preacher possessed with demons. The beat might as well be tapped out by pointy toed cowboy boots on a veranda in the early morning mists whilst creaking back and forth in a rocking chair, the guitar played with the neck of a beer bottle. The addition of a banjo to this track purely emphasises the southern vibe. I..ve not heard anything else like this to come out of London. 4/5

VIKKI ROBERTS, JUKEBOX WWW.JUKEBO.CX



MISSISSIPPI WITCH - JUST FOR ROOSEVELT - COLONY 2: Glorious rock n roll in a similar vein to the wondrous tricky woo with a swamp like stomp thrown in for good measure…

JEREMY CHICK, SUBBA-CULTCHA WWW.SUBBA-CULTCHA.COM



Just for Roosevelt is a dark and heavy track with a real underground club feel about it. The guitars have a similar rhythm as Kashmir by Led Zeppelin maybe rougher, louder and a few octaves higher. The vocals are excitedly shouted down the mic. An exciting debut from this group.

CRAIG EVANS, COMFORT COMES WWW.COMFORTCOMES.COM



Mississippi Witch are two ex-pat ‘bible-belt escapees’ who met at a ‘snake church’ in Baton Rouge, decided to form a group, & promptly moved to London where they were duly ‘discovered’ by Colony 2 & shoved into a recording studio. “Just For Roosvelt” is gravel chewing, ‘bacy spitting rawkus Blues on nodding terms with Uncle John & Whitelock.

GUY DEBORED, TRAKMARX WWW.TRAKMARX.COM



Arguably owing more to recent acts such as the Eagles of Death Metal than their self-proclaimed icons (Zappa and Captain Beefheart), this two-track single demonstrates a bizarre, unique example of what can perhaps best be described as bluegrass psychedelia. Think dark, soulful (occasionally screaming) vocals combined with wailing guitars, grinding basslines, bouncing piano and (at times downright sinister) percussive beats. Certainly less challenging than the more obscure elements of acid rock and firmly rooted in traditional blues, in less capable hands this combination of elements could emerge as a tuneless racket, but Mississippi Witch create a loud, surreal yet surprisingly addictive sound.

LUCY WEIR, THE SKINNY WWW.SKINNYMAG.CO.UK



The moniker Mississippi Witch really tells you everything you need to know about the band.. and their startling debut single. Dark, gnarled, treacle-thick and twisted, with ominous lyrics full of gunpowder - Roosevelt is a fascinating first glimpse into the heavy blues-rock soul of two-some Mississippi Witch. A three-minute head-spin underpinned by a brooding guitar riff, stuttering drums and Olli Walker..s tobacco-stained screeched and mumbled vocals. B-side Alligator Mechanics is worth a crack too. A well-constructed, menacing ditty, laden with lazy bass and off-kilter banjo - but probably not the sort of thing to listen to whilst eating cheese before bedtime. Mississippi Witch sound like they..ve been dragged up in the Deep South but unless Bristol counts, (which it doesn..t), then what we..re witnessing is a band creating their own sound from nothing more than musical hand-me-downs and the dark meanderings of the mind..s eye. Impressive stuff. 4/5

SARAH HOLT, MUSIC TOWERS WWW.MUSICTOWERS.COM



Formed in 2005, Mississippi Witch are a two-piece from London. They describe themselves as ..bible-belt escapees.. and one of them (vocalist Oli) is even actually from actual Mississippi. Fancy that. Drummer Dan is from New Mexico. The band began after a chance meeting in a ..snake church.. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Which means they have Deep South credentials coming out of their ears. Handy. New single ..Just For Roosevelt.. has already received heavy support from Guy Garvey on his XFM Manchester show and it..s not difficult to see why. It..s a dirty, bottleneck blues screamer of a track. Oli Walker delivers like a more brutal Tom Waits and by the time the track screeches to a close you can..t help but think that spending the rest of the night chewing tobacco and drinking bourbon seems like a bloody good idea. 4/5

CHRIS HORNER, HIGH VOLTAGE WWW.HIGHVOLTAGE.ORG.UK



Mississippi Witch Just for Roosevelt (Colony2). Oh mama. Fuck me what a row. This brute is so fucking raw it oozes puss and pain in equal measures, those much in need of injection of scathing up and at you n your face and smiling menacingly beatified rock n roll then look no further than this wholesomely pure two faced bastard of a release. Duo Mississippi Witch sound like theyve been distilled and bottled in a cask of Tom Waits favoured bourbon and this their debut single is a death rattling hotrod meets gnarled coffin blues nugget that blisters across the hi-fi like an evil preacher collecting souls for the eternal funeral pyre. &;nbsp; Ripped from their forthcoming full length Black Gamble Just for Roosevelt is a scorched swamp infested and snarled take no prisoners rout thats been meatily bludgeoned by an underpin that aside sounding like a mutant cousin of Zeps Kashmir could easily have been hoodwinked straight from beneath the noses of Killing Joke and then had several shades of the brown stuff kicked out of it by a seriously agitated gathering of John Spencer Blues Explosion, the Ministry (though here Oding on valium) and Monkeywrench and then near drowned in an acutely hip grinding and ear gouging thickly set throbbing groove that even lovers of classic era Queens of the Stone Age may well decide to swap loyalties for. Absolute brutal stuff. Flip over for the equally restless railroad blues of Alligator Mechanics which replete with banjos, squawking riffs and a hugely dust ball like lolloping vibe, arches and creaks ominously parched as though a younger bad boy Johnny Cash had met Beefheart at rocks infamous crossroads. A killer debut and not surprisingly joint single of the missive. Now for that album then!?

MARK BARTON, UK EDITOR LOSING TODAY MAGAZINE WWW.LOSINGTODAY.COM



Like many people, I have tried hard to listen to the most challenging Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa at length, with little success. It all gets too much after the first 6 minutes, and I have to press stop and have a lie down. Mississippi Witch make music which sounds like it come from the loins of Beefheart and Zappa, but with a crucial difference: more soul. Or rather, more blues. Mississippi Witch manage to marry all that is good about dark, acid-soaked psychedelia, with a garage rock aesthetic la MC5. Just for Roosevelt is a filthy, dirty, dark badass rock song, with a real blues backbone propping it up. This is even more surprising, considering these blokes are plying their trade in places like Bristol and Kingston-upon-Thames rather than the House 'o Blues. Be that as it may, if this track is anything to go by, these chaps are definitely something a bit special.

DANIEL WESTERLUND, ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE WWW.ROCKBEATSTONE.COM

Guy Garvey (Elbow/BBC 6 Music)

"Mississippi Witch are fucking outrageously cool, with a terrific drummer. Check out “Just For Roosevelt”. It’ll blow your ’ead off.’

Q MAGAZINE
VENUE MAGAZINE
TIME OUT
SUBBA CULTCHA
MOTOR.DE (GERMANY)
LOOSE RECORD (USA)
ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE
MUGHEAD REVIEW CALIFORNIA (USA)
UK MUSIC SEARCH
REPEAT MAGAZINE
SOHO STRUT MAGAZINE
THE OUTFIT MAGAZINE
BUBBLEGUM SLUT MAGAZINE
SPILL MAGAZINE
RUSSELL BARKER
THE JUKEBOX
COMFORT COMES MAGAZINE
TRAKMARX
THE SKINNY MAGAZINE
MUSIC TOWERS
HIGH VOLTAGE
LOSING TODAY MAGAZINE
GUY GARVEY (ELBOW)
XFM
BBC 6 MUSIC

REVIEWS LISTED -

TIME OUT MAGAZINE

"Most importantly though, Green Man laid on a best-yet music bill and there were sets of pure brilliance from West Virginia three-piece Mississippi Witch – like Kings Of Leon without the stadium pretensions".

GREENMAN FESTIVAL 2009 (BBC WALES)

PRESS

Reviews

PRESS

Q MAGAZINE REVIEW

Swamp rocking duo Mississippi Witch inhabit a world where black-hearted men, gap-toothed women, liquor, guns and old time religion collide with combustable results. Oli Walker's fabulously raw vocals and rusty string guitar slashes recall Leadbelly and Tom Waits jamming with The White Stripes: filthy rock'n'roll doesn't come much purer than this..
PAUL BRANNIGAN, Q MAGAZINE

VENUE MAGAZINE (TIM BAILEY)*****

On which our two self-confessed bible belt escapees deliver everything you'd want from a duo whose moniker teams up the famous blues delta region with a practitioner of black magic - lurching, whisky-soaked bottleneck blues littered with bleak, malcontent, pistol-toting tales of the dark underbelly of Mississippi. And that's just opener (and undoubted highlight) 'Just For Roosevelt', three minutes of raw-eyed punk-blues that flattens John Spencer's entire back catalogue with a single leaden blow. But that's not to say their debut long-player is heavy handed per se (though tracks like 'Roosevelt' and 'Rot Foot' are armed with bigger hooks than the Mississippi Delta); more that 'Black Gamble' stands head and shoulders above its competition. A debut so weighty in scope that it touches nigh on all of Mississippi's musical traditions, yet so vital that it couldn't have been made at any other time by anyone else. (Tim Bailey) *****

SUBBA-CULTCHA (PAUL RAVEN)*****

Filthy low-down country-metal twosome in late bid for album of the year

I don't know who it is who picks the tracks that end up on the Guitar Hero games, but I'm going to find out, and I'm going to go to his office and play Mississippi Witch at him until he agrees to put them on the next edition. Black Gamble is one of the best guitar albums I've heard this year, and that's no mean feat.

But let me elaborate – this is not a high-precision technical guitar album, not your Steve Vai twiddly-diddly “look at my obscure new scale I just invented” stuff. Oh no – Black Gamble is a different sort of worship. It's a worship of the instrument's potential and breadth of expression, not a narcissistic glory run celebrating the player's proficiency.

The guitar playing of Oli Walker is about passion and fire, from its lazy twangy chords to its howling distorted stench of feedback and frenzy. It's amazing stuff. The drumming of Dan Danby is pretty damned awesome, too: also very proficient, thumpingly powerful and funky when required, simple and direct when necessary.

What about the rest of the band? Ha - there is no “rest of the band”! Mississippi Witch are a two-piece, though you'd be hard pressed to believe it at a first listen. Comparisons to other two-piece guitar acts are inevitable, so let me jump the gun – while there are similarities to The White Stripes, Mississippi Witch are much more like a lesser-known (but far better) act from the UK. I'm talking about Winnebago Deal, of course.

The main similarity, beyond the number of musicians involved, is that of approach. Where Winnebago Deal took heavy metal and pumped it full of rocket fuel and amphetamines before dragging it around a car-park in a bin-bag full of broken glass, Mississippi Witch have cooked up fresh rocks of blues-rock mixed with a hefty cut of grunge, thrown it into the flat-bed of a pick-up truck and driven it out to the swamplands before cudgelling it into a frenzy with shotgun butts. It's all about taking a sound and testing it to destruction ... and then riding the wreckage into the sunset.

Seriously, this is awesome stuff – the sludgy sullenness of the Deep South amped up, drugged out and driven to destruction in a blaze of border-running glory. If you don't believe me, just listen to the opening track (and recent single) “Just For Roosevelt” - if you have any love for a filthy hook-laden guitar racket, you'll be sold within the first eight bars. Same with “Rot Foot”. Same with “White Eye”. Same with ... ah, same with all of it, damn it.

And there's just two of them! I can't over-emphasise how complete this material sounds. Sure, there's some studio overdubs, but you can hear the essentials of the songs behind them, and you can hear that they work on their own, with Walker muttering and howling over his constantly-mutating guitar work, and the rock-solid rattle and bang of Danby's drumming.

Black Gamble is loud, dirty, raucous, catchy and fun – and it's the sort of record that makes you want to pick up a guitar of your own and exorcise your neighbours from the fresh graves of their beds. If Mississippi Witch sound half as good as this live, they're going to be immense.
*****

MOTOR.DE (Germany) www.motor.de

A big drum roll: here they are, Mississippi Witch! Ollie Walker and Dan Danby from Mississippi and New Mexico respectively, transferred to London some time ago, forming an informal duo and finally released their long postponed debut album onto the market. The single Just for Roosevelt has long been floating around the internet and in exclusive british vinyl shops, and everyone's craving it. Even after listening to it once, it becomes apparent that this is something extraordinary. The dirty lo-fi rock with blues-lesions (spreading/ seeping like a cancer) shocks little children from the first note. The witch has been let loose. Up to track 3, there is still hope while wading through the impenetrable and dangerously hypnotising Mississippi Delta, (in black and white of course!) that somehow you'll be able to escape. Then, however, from Black Gamble on, it starts to dawn on you there will be no way out. Mississippi Witch sends the listener on a rock and roll trip through hell. Pure, sweaty, fantastic. Walker sings of mysterious things. He wants us to follow him down, into the underworld. Wasn't that just the shadow of Tom Waits reflecting in the dirty delta water over there?

A high degree of professionalism is particularly impressive on this debut album. Heart-beating, punky to dizzy, feels like you've been shot, "blues'ed": the song writing range of Ollie walker is impressive. The riffs: uneasily catchy, and, finally, fresh again.

Lampio and Calipah prove that rock music can do more than just cause a rhythmic shaking of the head. Walker and Danby make us dizzy with their playing… they hypnotise us. Just for Roosevelt, Black Gamble and White Eye kick ass. But mainly, the cracking tracks Rude Foot and Van Nuys leave us in awe, and to my mind, rock music cannot get any better than this. Various blogs have been mumbling for some time that Mississippi Witch have got it. However, Black Gamble is such an extraordinary and special debut that it revokes memories of similarly strong impacts as that caused by Death From Above in 1979 and Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the deaf. A dangerous comparison? Over-hyped, because they're from England? Considering the continuous journalistic hysteria from "the island" (ie Britain) surrounding new acts, you might well be sceptical. This time, however, it is not just a "quick shot." On the contrary, Black Gamble not only sets the standard high for convincing and heavy rock in 2008, but with this debut, from the very start, Walker and Danby are swimming in similar waters as Josh Homme, Trent Reznor or Jack White. With no exception, everyone who loves heavy rock music that has its roots steeped in the blues should listen to this band and help spread the word. Even if it sounds over the top and clichd; the wake of Mississippi Witch's Black Gamble leaves similar ripples to those left in the days since the 2 nd White Stripes album. They are pioneers and renewers of rock. Go tell it on the mountain!


MOTOR.DE (Germany) www.motor.de

Oh oh: the next big thing alarm. However, what UK Music Search has diagnosed here is quite worth listening to, since what the 3 people from Colony2 label call their own is not the usual exchangeable IK Indie-Retro-Rock rubbish which only small-town girls in secondary school have not had enough of yet.

Better still: raw lo-fi Blues, the label says, I say wonderfully honest blues noise supplement. This works very well for 2-people combos, since they consciously refrain from soft rythmized base. The Black Keys, and once in a while the White Stripes, have brought us closer to the dangerously raw, dead-dry, dirty blues rock with "only" guitar and drums – Missisippi Witch now seem to live it and sweat it out musically with every pore. Weather they really are bible believing people who met up in small town churches in the deeply religious Lousiana chewing tobbacco can be equally taken with a smile as the meeting in the mortuary story by Death From Above back in 1979. Apparently they are a must, these strange tales of weird unperceivable bands, which appear from seemingly nowhere, starting to rock down on us making our hair stand on end.

Meanwhile they made it from the American small town church to London where Colony2, after various months of delay, will give us a taste of the seemingly formidable debut Black Gamble at the beginning of September.



RECORD NYC (MEGAN PETTY) 2008: Year of the Witch? Quite possibly.

Continuing on with our love of bands with American transplants, I’d like you to meet Oli Walker and Dan Danby, otherwise known as Mississippi Witch. I’ve already fallen head over heels for them, and now it’s your turn. The duo’s long and winding road brought them from Mississippi (Walker) and New Mexico (Danby) many thousands of miles to London, and thence to Bristol. Mississippi Witch has proven a reasonably apt moniker, as there is something spellbinding in the music. Formed in 2005, there’s a distinct 1970s vintage to their sound; heavy, heady swoons of unadulterated bluesy Southern rock with a dash of desert mysticism filtered through the misty rain and refined antiquity of London Town. Walker’s vocals and guitar bombast wouldn’t sound out of place on the mid-70s albums of many a great Southern rock band, and Danby bangs the drums with such abandon that it could be considered a minor miracle he doesn’t destroy his kit each time he plays.

Black Gamble is a monster of a debut album, and will most certainly get the blood pumping. It begins with the towering inferno otherwise known as “Just for Roosevelt,” all grit and grime resplendent with some of the dirtiest guitar riffage you’re likely to hear all year. “Alligator Mechanics” showcase some nasty banjo playing, with Walker’s voice taking an exaggerated, molasses-like tone. The title track, “Black Gamble,” shows where some English punk has seeped in to the Witch sound, with ferociously fraught guitars and a break-neck pace to oblivion. The dozen tracks are all so glutted and teeming with noise that at times it’s hard to imagine that there are only two people making such a racket.

The bottom line? This album is staggeringly good, and 2008 could be annus mirabilis for these wandering, transplanted souls of Mississippi Witch. After a few listens to Black Gamble, you’ll join me in expecting big things from Misters Walker and Danby. Head over to their website to listen to some album tracks (and then purchase it, naturally).

ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE

If the music-press is to be believed, the release of the much anticipated debut album from London-based duo Mississippi Witch can not adequately be reviewed without using the following words: 'stomping', 'raw', 'gritty', 'bourbon-soaked', or without some kind of cultural reference to the deep south. I, however, have decided to try.

Although appropriate to superficially describe the noise that Oli Walker and Dan Darby make, such a list of words completely fail to convey is the complexity of Black Gamble behind a barn-door of mock-simplicity. It is abundantly clear that these guys are excellent musicians, not only from their playing, but also from the unpredictable and excellent arrangements on tracks like 'Starving of the Bee', which breaks into quasi-psychedelic cacophony halfway through before coming back down to Earth.

It is refreshing to hear an album that contains absolutely no self-indulgent twaddle whatsoever. On the contrary, the fact that almost all of tracks dutifully come in at under 3-and-a-half minutes occasionally gives a sense of abruptness, but mainly serves to maintain the break-neck momentum of the album.

There are some rocking melodies that are immediately infectious, like the brilliant 'Van Nuys' and the debut single 'For Roosevelt', which opens the album. What is not, immediately obvious, however, is just how dark some of the writing is. With Walker's vocals guttural, deep and desperate, often drowning in an ether of fuzzy guitar dissonance and carnal drumming. The lyrics are often as unpolished and disturbing as the music: "clean the blood from the food I've been serving" (Lampio) or "I'm a modern Mussolini // Clean my rotted crown" (Starving of the Bee) but never ever dull.

Other highlights include the fast, fun title track, (which sounds not dissimilar to a certain White Stripes song), and 'Rot Foot' which manages to hint at influences from more avant-garde contemporaries like Clinic. Or maybe that's just the organ. Pinning these guys to any obvious influences is difficult as there is a lot of scope in their sound, and perhaps this is the best compliment of all. In a time where so much new music sounds horribly derived, the hugely talented Mississippi Witch have managed to reference a huge catalogue of sounds while still managing to sound both interesting and relevant.

A classy debut. Big things are expected from these two.


THE MUGHEAD REVIEW CALIFORNIA
WWW.THEMUGHEADREVIEW.COM

You may not have heard of this dynamic duo, but there is little doubt in my mind that you will… very soon.

Mississippi Witch is comprised of Oli Walker (guitar/vocals) and Dan Danby (drums). Although there are only two members of this band, the sound that explodes forth may as well been coming from five or six musicians. Their debut record “Black Gamble” will take you on gritty, soulful, ass kicking journey through the under belly of rock and roll.

These guys are both bible belt escapees (as they put it) who apparently met quite randomly at a Snake Church in Baton Rouge. Their story only gets stranger as Oli and Dan ended up in London to record their EP “Just for Roosevelt”. Oli was born in Mississippi and Dan was born in New Mexico, so you might say that these guys just go where life takes them. And thankfully so.

Oli Walker’s vocals have that elusive quality that can only come from deep within a person’s being. He has a style all his own, and he owns it well. Walker’s guitar playing absolutely shreds all over the album, from beginning to middle to end. He has all the talent of Jack White or Kurt Cobain, and when you have something like that, it doesn’t stay a secret for very long. Honestly, I almost couldn’t believe that Oli can sing and play like this at the same time.

Dan Danby is no slouch either. In fact, it would be easy to say that this duo has clear advantages over say, The White Stripes. Dan can drum for one thing. In my opinion a duo like this forms because they realize that they just don’t have the need for another band member.

My favorite tracks on the album have to be “Just for Roosevelt”, “Albuquerque New Mexico” and “Van Nuys”. But “Calipah” and the title track “Black Gamble” are up there too. I think this album should do very well to say the least. The new album is not out yet so like I said, when it does come out on January 21st, I think you will be hearing about it again.

Oli Walker will be sitting down with The Mughead Review for an interview next week too, to talk about all sorts of things, check back for that soon. As always, I recommend you listening for yourself, which you can do by going the Mississippi Witch website, as well as their myspace page.


UK MUSIC SEARCH
WWW.UKMUSICSEARCH.CO.UK

A dirty delta blues jam by way of Black Flag and AC/DC, this is the kind of thing to make you fall in love with noisy guitars and big riffs all over again.
The snake hipped charm of ALLIGATOR MECHANICS drips with deep south atmosphere and drawling blues character, Oli Walker again delivering the goods superbly.
Title track BLACK GAMBLE hardly messes with the formula, Mississippi Witch unleashing dirty distorted riffs, careering drum beats and drawling vocals by the bucketload, seamlessly merging Kings Of Leon, Mountain and The Melvins. The more languid stoner rock of LAMPIO proves that the duo can also do more expansive, further reaching material with equal skill, hypnotic drum patterns, discordantly eerie sound effects and lurching piano chords adding to Mississippi Witch's sound repertoire. STARVING OF THE BEE stretches affairs even further, a bluesy acoustic jam that recalls both Black Label Society and Kyuss.
ROT FOOT and VAN NUYS get things back to harder rocking territory, all distorted riffing and violent drums, whilst on LUNG FULL OF RIVER MUD, the band unleash the kind of noisy guitar bluster that envisions Sonic Youth in their prime.
The kind of debut to have you proclaiming the likes of "new favourite band" and "next big thing" wildly; Mississippi Witch are a band who leave you hungry and desperate for more with BLACK GAMBLE, an album well worth get extremely passionate about.


ALBUM PREVIEW
Mississippi Witch Debut Album Coming - Industry Types Shocked!

One of the most exciting releases of early 2007 is the debut album from the duo known as Mississippi Witch. The LP will be called 'Black Gamble' and will be released on Colony2 and Universal. The release date is penciled in as 20th March 2007.

The record label and other assorted slack-jawed industry types have been left with a look of shock on their faces upon hearing the complete album. We here at Rockbeatstone predict that this album will be awesome.

DANIEL WESTERLUND, ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE WWW.ROCKBEATSTONE.COM

REVIEWS

Favourite band of 2006? "Mississippi Witch as they make amazing energetic music and the song 'Just For Roosevelt' is now in my top 5 rock tunes ever".

GUY GARVEY (ELBOW/XFM MANCHESTER) WWW.XFMMANCHESTER.CO.UK



Mississippi Witch throw their toys out of the pram with foot-stomping gusto. They make a great garage racket somewhere between White Stripes and The Blues Explosion and they're also the winner of the coveted Press Release Line of the Week for being "founders of the infamous drug wave gypsy guitar solo". Marvellous penmanship, marvellous single.

CHRIS MARLING, REPEAT WWW.REPEATONLINE.CO.UK



‘Just For Roosevelt' is crazed scuzzy rock'n'roll from wild two piece, Mississippi Witch, with razor sharp demented licks slicing with a nasty bluesy edge. Utterly mad and totally insane, Mississippi Witch are like Captain Beefheart having a ruck with The Sonics, fucking ace. ‘Alligator Mechanics' is very menacing song with the sinister vocals and utterly barmy banjos. Mississippi Witch are one mighty eccentric two piece of weird and wild rock'n'roll.

SOHOSTRUT MAGAZINE WWW.SOHOSTRUT.CO.UK



Mississippi Witch are a band that will sit proudly alongside the heavyweights in my cherished vinyl collection. Just for Roosevelt is clearly head and shoulders above everything else around. Absolute genius.

FELIX BARKSDALE THE OUTFIT MAGAZINE



I’ve decided that there are few things I like more than English bands with an affinity for American rock. Mississippi Witch sound like they’ve spent the past couple years in the South, soaking up bourbon and some dirty blues. “Just for Roosevelt” is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a while; every filthy, hard-rocking, tarred-and-feathered second of it. Music is the food of love, and I say play on Mississippi Witch, play on.

MEGAN PETTY, LOOSE RECORD, NYC WWW.LOOSERECORD.COM



A genuine Delta dweller who somehow washed up on the bands of the grey ol' Thames, Mississippi Witch frontman Oli Walker brings the blues soul of back home in his staggering, drunken guitarlines and a lungful of black river mud in his gruffly intoned lyrical prophecies. New Mexico born drummer Dan Danby completes the grimy guo, and 'Just For Rooservelt's dirgy march with noisy and chaotic neo-blues beats befitting of any Jon Spencer project. Together they take you right down to the muddy roots of this blues beast.

BUBBLEGUMSLUT MAGAZINE WWW.BUBBLEGUMSLUT.CO.UK



"1976 Seeks its music back" 4/5

SPILL MAGAZINE WWW.SPILLONLINE.COM



Its The White Stripes comparisons that hit you first, Mississippi Witch, as they are a two piece guitar and drum duo playing ragged and raw lo-fi blues. Its however the Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa influence that permeates this band the strongest here on single JUST FOR ROOSEVELT. Its in Oli Walker's primal howl and riotous guitar work, riffing and yelling his way through JUST FOR ROOSEVELT like Captain Beefheart re-evigorated and ready for rock action. A dirty delta blues jam by way of Black Flag and AC/DC, this is the kind of thing to make you fall in love with noisy guitars and big riffs all over again, Mississippi Witch a band well worth get extremely passionate about. The snake hipped charm of ALLIGATOR MECHANICS drips with deep south atmosphere and drawling blues character, Oli Walker again delivering the goods superbly. The kind of debut to have you proclaiming the likes of "new favourite band" and "next big thing" wildly; Mississippi Witch are a band who leave you hungry and desperate for more.

Further listening: The White Stripes Frank Zappa Captain Beefheart

KEITH DAVIS, UKM WWW.UKMUSICSEARCH.CO.UK



‘Just For Roosevelt’ will fair blast yer brains out. It rocks ‘n’ rolls like the swamp blues monster it is and slices it’s way into your hearts and minds courtesy of great big clipped, controlled guitars. Like so many great tunes it ebbs and flows leaving you disoriented, but then there’s a torrent of guitar and drums leading into an unexpected Elvis-y bit. It’s amazing the noise a two piece can make, but Mississippi Witch create a grand racket in much the way that Two Gallants do, playing above themselves to make up for their lack of numbers. The dirty blues rock spirit lives on in bands like these.

RUSSELL BARKER, RUSSELLS REVIEWS WWW.RUSSELLSREVIEWS.CO.UK



Mississippi Witch are a 2-piece from London whose deepest roots are from Mississippi and New Mexico. The duo are Oli Walker (guitar & vocals) and Dan Danby (drums) and I was thrilled to be approached by Oli with a chance to review their single Just For Roosevelt which is released on October 2nd and is taken from their forthcoming album (which I..d love a copy of when it..s ready guys) Black Gamble. It just so happens that at the time of writing I..m watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? on the telly (muted) and listening to Mississippi Witch at the same time. Having just listened to the part of the film where the Soggy Bottom Boys record Man of Constant Sorrow I..m struck by how the underlying soul of Just For Roosevelt seems to be the same. It..s got the same blues backdrop and harmonics of the bible belt music but with a hell of a lot more backbone. It might not be easy to hear at first. It..s sunk in a whole lotta whiskey and drug fuelled rock power, but the influence is there. Just For Roosevelt, no matter what it..s roots or influences, is a down and dirty, filthy rock song, the like of which I..ve only heard hinted at by The Doors. It..s sexily aggressive, a touch of distortion on the vocal and gruesome, twisted, gnarled energy fuelling the guitar and drums. If ever there was music to dance/mosh/leap around like a thing possessed to, then this is it. Alligator Mechanics bubbles out of the swamps of the deep south like a preacher possessed with demons. The beat might as well be tapped out by pointy toed cowboy boots on a veranda in the early morning mists whilst creaking back and forth in a rocking chair, the guitar played with the neck of a beer bottle. The addition of a banjo to this track purely emphasises the southern vibe. I..ve not heard anything else like this to come out of London. 4/5

VIKKI ROBERTS, JUKEBOX WWW.JUKEBO.CX



MISSISSIPPI WITCH - JUST FOR ROOSEVELT - COLONY 2: Glorious rock n roll in a similar vein to the wondrous tricky woo with a swamp like stomp thrown in for good measure…

JEREMY CHICK, SUBBA-CULTCHA WWW.SUBBA-CULTCHA.COM



Just for Roosevelt is a dark and heavy track with a real underground club feel about it. The guitars have a similar rhythm as Kashmir by Led Zeppelin maybe rougher, louder and a few octaves higher. The vocals are excitedly shouted down the mic. An exciting debut from this group.

CRAIG EVANS, COMFORT COMES WWW.COMFORTCOMES.COM



Mississippi Witch are two ex-pat ‘bible-belt escapees’ who met at a ‘snake church’ in Baton Rouge, decided to form a group, & promptly moved to London where they were duly ‘discovered’ by Colony 2 & shoved into a recording studio. “Just For Roosvelt” is gravel chewing, ‘bacy spitting rawkus Blues on nodding terms with Uncle John & Whitelock.

GUY DEBORED, TRAKMARX WWW.TRAKMARX.COM



Arguably owing more to recent acts such as the Eagles of Death Metal than their self-proclaimed icons (Zappa and Captain Beefheart), this two-track single demonstrates a bizarre, unique example of what can perhaps best be described as bluegrass psychedelia. Think dark, soulful (occasionally screaming) vocals combined with wailing guitars, grinding basslines, bouncing piano and (at times downright sinister) percussive beats. Certainly less challenging than the more obscure elements of acid rock and firmly rooted in traditional blues, in less capable hands this combination of elements could emerge as a tuneless racket, but Mississippi Witch create a loud, surreal yet surprisingly addictive sound.

LUCY WEIR, THE SKINNY WWW.SKINNYMAG.CO.UK



The moniker Mississippi Witch really tells you everything you need to know about the band.. and their startling debut single. Dark, gnarled, treacle-thick and twisted, with ominous lyrics full of gunpowder - Roosevelt is a fascinating first glimpse into the heavy blues-rock soul of two-some Mississippi Witch. A three-minute head-spin underpinned by a brooding guitar riff, stuttering drums and Olli Walker..s tobacco-stained screeched and mumbled vocals. B-side Alligator Mechanics is worth a crack too. A well-constructed, menacing ditty, laden with lazy bass and off-kilter banjo - but probably not the sort of thing to listen to whilst eating cheese before bedtime. Mississippi Witch sound like they..ve been dragged up in the Deep South but unless Bristol counts, (which it doesn..t), then what we..re witnessing is a band creating their own sound from nothing more than musical hand-me-downs and the dark meanderings of the mind..s eye. Impressive stuff. 4/5

SARAH HOLT, MUSIC TOWERS WWW.MUSICTOWERS.COM



Formed in 2005, Mississippi Witch are a two-piece from London. They describe themselves as ..bible-belt escapees.. and one of them (vocalist Oli) is even actually from actual Mississippi. Fancy that. Drummer Dan is from New Mexico. The band began after a chance meeting in a ..snake church.. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Which means they have Deep South credentials coming out of their ears. Handy. New single ..Just For Roosevelt.. has already received heavy support from Guy Garvey on his XFM Manchester show and it..s not difficult to see why. It..s a dirty, bottleneck blues screamer of a track. Oli Walker delivers like a more brutal Tom Waits and by the time the track screeches to a close you can..t help but think that spending the rest of the night chewing tobacco and drinking bourbon seems like a bloody good idea. 4/5

CHRIS HORNER, HIGH VOLTAGE WWW.HIGHVOLTAGE.ORG.UK



Mississippi Witch Just for Roosevelt (Colony2). Oh mama. Fuck me what a row. This brute is so fucking raw it oozes puss and pain in equal measures, those much in need of injection of scathing up and at you n your face and smiling menacingly beatified rock n roll then look no further than this wholesomely pure two faced bastard of a release. Duo Mississippi Witch sound like theyve been distilled and bottled in a cask of Tom Waits favoured bourbon and this their debut single is a death rattling hotrod meets gnarled coffin blues nugget that blisters across the hi-fi like an evil preacher collecting souls for the eternal funeral pyre. &;nbsp; Ripped from their forthcoming full length Black Gamble Just for Roosevelt is a scorched swamp infested and snarled take no prisoners rout thats been meatily bludgeoned by an underpin that aside sounding like a mutant cousin of Zeps Kashmir could easily have been hoodwinked straight from beneath the noses of Killing Joke and then had several shades of the brown stuff kicked out of it by a seriously agitated gathering of John Spencer Blues Explosion, the Ministry (though here Oding on valium) and Monkeywrench and then near drowned in an acutely hip grinding and ear gouging thickly set throbbing groove that even lovers of classic era Queens of the Stone Age may well decide to swap loyalties for. Absolute brutal stuff. Flip over for the equally restless railroad blues of Alligator Mechanics which replete with banjos, squawking riffs and a hugely dust ball like lolloping vibe, arches and creaks ominously parched as though a younger bad boy Johnny Cash had met Beefheart at rocks infamous crossroads. A killer debut and not surprisingly joint single of the missive. Now for that album then!?

MARK BARTON, UK EDITOR LOSING TODAY MAGAZINE WWW.LOSINGTODAY.COM



Like many people, I have tried hard to listen to the most challenging Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa at length, with little success. It all gets too much after the first 6 minutes, and I have to press stop and have a lie down. Mississippi Witch make music which sounds like it come from the loins of Beefheart and Zappa, but with a crucial difference: more soul. Or rather, more blues. Mississippi Witch manage to marry all that is good about dark, acid-soaked psychedelia, with a garage rock aesthetic la MC5. Just for Roosevelt is a filthy, dirty, dark badass rock song, with a real blues backbone propping it up. This is even more surprising, considering these blokes are plying their trade in places like Bristol and Kingston-upon-Thames rather than the House 'o Blues. Be that as it may, if this track is anything to go by, these chaps are definitely something a bit special.

DANIEL WESTERLUND, ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE WWW.ROCKBEATSTONE.COM

Photos

Radio

2010
Mar 12th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Mar 5th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Feb 19th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Feb 26th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
2009
Jul 3rd STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Jun 26th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Apr 24th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Apr 17th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Apr 10th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Apr 3rd STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Jan 31st BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM
Jan 30th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Jan 27th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Jan 9th BYTE FM GERMANY
Jan 6th BYTE FM GERMANY
2008
Dec 30th BYTE FM GERMANY
Dec 6th/9th BYTE FM GERMANY
Nov 14th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Nov 7th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Nov 5th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Nov 1st BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM
Nov 1st BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM
Oct 31st STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Aug 8th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
Aug 15th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
May 9th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9 PARIS FRANCE
May 2nd STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM PARIS FRANCE
Apr 29th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Apr 22nd FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Apr 20th BBC 6 MUSIC
Apr 15th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Apr 11th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Apr 5th WRIR 97.3 FM WEST VIRGINIA USA
Mar 28th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Mar 28th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Mar 25th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Mar 22nd RADIO REVERB 97.2FM
Mar 11th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Mar 4th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Mar 3rd BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM
Mar 1st XFM SOUTH WALES 106.8 - 107.3
Mar 1st BCFM RADIO 93.2FM
Mar 1st BBC BRISTOL 94.9FM
Feb 26th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Jan 28th BCFM RADIO 93.2FM
Jan 22nd FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Jan 18th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM
Jan 11th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM
Jan 8th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Jan 4th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
2007
Dec 4th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Nov 20th FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY
Oct 30th XFM 104.9FM
Oct 23rd BBC 6 MUSIC
Sep 28th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Sep 21st STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Aug 13th CFMH SAINT JOHN CANADA
Aug 5th BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM
July 15th 93.2 BCFM
May/June BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM
May 31st RADIO ONE 97-99FM
May 19th KMSU 89.7FM, MANKATO / KMSK 91.3FM, AUSTIN, USA
Mar 30th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Feb 19th KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA
Feb 7th KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA
Jan 16th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Jan 14th XFM 104.9
Jan 14th XFM SCOTLAND 105.7-106.1
Jan 14th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
2006
Dec 31st XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
Dec 30th KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA
Dec 2nd KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA
Nov/Dec KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA
Nov 10th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Nov 9th THE SELECTOR RADIO, WORLDWIDE
Nov 8th SURGE 1287AM, SOUTHAMPTON
Oct 15th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
Oct 12th SURGE 1287AM, SOUTHAMPTON
Oct 2nd & playlist RADIO 2XS, FLORIDA, USA / ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA / KOSOVO
Oct 2nd THE SELECTOR RADIO, WORLDWIDE
Sept 24th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
Sept 22nd THE SELECTOR RADIO, WORLDWIDE
Sept 15th RADIO WAVE 100.7FM PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Sept 15th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Sept 14th & playlist RADIO 2XS, FLORIDA, USA / ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA / KOSOVO
Sept 10th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
Sept 2nd KMSU 89.7FM, MANKATO / KMSK 91.3FM, AUSTIN, USA
Sept 1st 107.6 JUICE FM, LIVERPOOL
Sept WRCT 88.3 FM, PITTSBURGH, USA
Aug/Sept BOB & JAY RADIO 90.3 & 88.7FM SYDNEY, AUS
Aug 27th BFBS RADIO 1 WWW.BFBS.COM
Aug 25th 107.6 JUICE FM, LIVERPOOL
Aug 25thJUICE 107.2FM, BRIGHTON
Aug playlist STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Aug playlist RESONANCE FM 104.4
Aug 20th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
Aug 16th XFM 104.9
Aug 6th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
May/June WWW.RADIONOWHERE.ORG

Interview

Interviews

LOOSE RECORD NYC INTERVIEW

I had the good pleasure of twisting the arm of Oli Walker, the vocal/guitar half of Mississippi Witch, into answering these here questions of mine. He’s a nice boy, and smart, too (see: Beatles vs. Stones). Oh, and he’s got a decent set of pipes, as well. I do hope that the Witch brings their aural hurricane over to these shores sooner rather than later.

Les Enfants Terribles: How the hell are you?
Oli Walker: Good thanks.

LET: What was the last song you listened to?
OW: “Under my Thumb” - Rolling Stones.

LET: Playing music is ___
OW: Better played between 12 and 3.

LET: What album most made you realize that you wanted to make music?
OW: Hot Rocks - Rolling Stones.

LET: Beatles or Stones?
OW: The Stones! I'll take this opportunity to quote Keith - "I'm Sagittarius, half man, half horse with a license to shit in the street.”

LET: What're your top 5 albums (of ever, of this week, of this minute)?
OW: Eeeeer, in no particular order -
Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones
The Doors - The Doors
Led Zeppelin lll
Electric Lady Land - Jimi Hendrix
Harvest - Neil Young

LET: Favorite music-related movie?
OW: The Kids are Alright.

LET: What city or venue would you like to play, but haven't yet been to?
OW: Ohio and New Zealand, anywhere really. I think America is where we need to be…

LET: Half-full or half-empty?
OW: There's always more where that came from.

LET: What do you miss most about life in the US of A?
OW: The desert, steak and shrimp, Van Nuys…

LET: Apart from your band, which of your peers do you think is making the best music these days?
OW: I don’t hear much of what’s going on nowadays, but Queens of the Stone Age, Raising Sand (Robert Plant/Alison Krauss), Tom Waits…

LET: What's your favorite track on Black Gamble?
OW: “Just For Roosevelt”, it was the first song we did and sums up the state of mind of the band at the time…

LET: What's the first thing you think when you wake up?
OW: Mississippi Witch, and must get bigger amps.

LET: How do you settle band arguments?
OW: We only see each other when we play or record so we just do what we do, I don’t have any control over it, and neither does Dan, we just play.

LET: The greatest record store in the world is:
OW: I wish I knew, I’m all for record stores, I can’t find any good ones…

LET: How will you be celebrating Halloween this year?
OW: With a big fire and some chalk.

LET: What's the longest flight you've ever been on, and where were you going?
OW: 12 hours or so, California - London.

LET: Shaken or stirred?
OW: Both…

LET: If you weren't in a band, you'd be:
OW: I have no idea, I don’t think there was ever anything else I could do, so I'd be in trouble. Probably wondering round with a dog and a strange look on me face…

LET: Best song ever written?
OW: That’s a tricky one, I'll just say “House of the Rising Sun” – as done by The Animals.


THE MUGHEAD REVIEW CALIFORNIA

Mississippi Witch has a gritty and soulful new album entitled “Black Gamble” that will be coming out January 21st 2008. Oli Walker (guitar/vocals) was kind enough to sit down and talk with The Mughead Review about their past, present and obviously bright future.

The Mughead Review: Thanks Oli, we really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. So I heard that you and Dan met in Baton Rouge in a snake church. What the heck is a snake church exactly?

Oli Walker: We met by chance, under very strange circumstances. A snake church is a place where people go to cleanse themselves of their sins, they pick up snakes and if it doesn’t bite you are forgiven, it was very entertaining. Dan said he likes to hit the drums and that was enough.

TMR: Where does the name Mississippi Witch come from?

Oli Walker: It was given to us by a farmer. He shouted to us “your Mississippi Witch”, we’ve never questioned it. We were just walking along and the fella just shouted it at us. We had never even seen him before. Normally the best things in life come out that way, I think he just saw us and that’s what we were to him.

TMR: Shortly after you and Dan met, you moved to London? What brought that about?

Oli Walker: We basically came to record the album.

TMR: When you guys moved to London to record the album, was it because you signed to a label then?

Oli Walker: No that came later, we had a few studios in mind, we picked the studio that looked most like a cave, it’s called Toybox Studio. It’s a great place to record, cave rooms, chimneys for vocals etc.

TMR: So where does the band reside right now, in London?

Oli Walker: We move around a lot, at the moment we’re in a cottage near Wales rehearsing.

TMR: What was it like moving from the US to London? How long have you been out there?

Oli Walker: England as a whole is good, lots of country side and forests; we’ve been here maybe 3 or 4 years.

TMR: When you recorded the EP “Just for Roosevelt” what changed for you guys?

Oli Walker: Everything changed, “Just for Roosevelt” was the first song we ever recorded, it was some what of a war cry for both of us, people seem to love that song and for us it paved the way for the rest of the album.

TMR: I heard about Mississippi Witch from Guy Garvey of Elbow, who called you guys his favorite new band, did you just meet him at a show or how did that come about?

Oli Walker: Guy heard “Just for Roosevelt” and asked us to come and play, he runs a label called Skinny Dog and was interested in our album, very nice fella.

TMR: So how long have you been playing guitar?

Oli Walker: About 10 years, I found a guitar in the attic of a house; it was like finding a long lost limb.

TMR: You mentioned somewhere that you and Dan were Bible belt escapees. What was your upbringing like?

Oli Walker: My father traveled a lot, he was a court judge in Guadalcanal and other south pacific islands, my mother was a sort of a homebody, we moved around a lot. I really had no interest in anything until I found that guitar; I did once have a catapult I was quite fond of. I can’t say for Dan but you have to wonder how a fella can hit drums for as long and hard as that without breaking a sweat, I think he was just put on this earth to play drums.

TMR: Why is Mississippi Witch a duo?

Oli Walker: We didn’t need anyone else, it wasn’t missing anything. With just the two of us we can do what ever we like and not have to worry about it.

TMR: Will Mississippi Witch remain a duo?

Oli Walker: Yes.

TMR: Can you tell me about the title of the new album? Where does it come from? What does it mean?

Oli Walker: It’s not really a tangible thing, I know what it means to me but I could never explain it in words.

TMR: Black Gamble is exactly the type of album that the current music scene needs right now. I’m excited for it to come out. It seems like the release was pushed back a few times though. When does it come out?

Oli Walker: 21st of January. There were a lot of delays, mainly because every time we were set to release it another label would ring up, this happened 5 or 6 times. The problem with labels is they’re very slow and cause the whole process to stop dead.


TMR: When you say labels would ring up, does that mean that multiple labels were trying to sign you guys?

Oli Walker: Yeah, We had a few pop up all at the same time, it’s just the way things work, once one likes you they all fancy a sniff, but they weren’t right for us, I think most of them wouldn’t know the difference between night and day.

TMR: Tell me about the creative process for Mississippi Witch, how do you go about writing songs?

Oli Walker: We write very quickly and never record anything till we’re in the studio, it keeps it fresh, most of the songs on Black Gamble were only written a few days before recording them, the same goes for lyrics. I tend to write them at the same time as recording them, it the only way we know how to work, the less we think about it the better it comes out.

TMR: What music has influenced you and Dan? And what music are you digging right now?

Oli Walker: Let’s just say I like all the music you would think I would, its quicker that way. I lived in a flat in Richmond upon Thames for a while, opposite me was Pete Townsend’s house and 10 doors to my right was Jagger’s house, not a bad spot!

TMR: What are your tour plans? I hear you guys kick some serious ass in concert.

Oli Walker: We are still undecided when and where, America probably.

TMR: I hope we can help spread the word about Mississippi Witch. Your vocals and guitar playing are pretty sick, people need to hear it. What does the future hold for Mississippi Witch?

Oli Walker: We’ll start the next album in March next year, and probably play a lot more shows, I would think we’ll be in California. Who knows, we are enjoying everything, it could all get very hectic but we know what we’re doing and how we’re going to do it.

TMR: Well, we wish you all the best. I think your future is going to be bright. Thanks for answering our many questions. I look forward to seeing you guys play live sometime soon.

Oli Walker: Thanks for the questions, I enjoyed it.

Rot Foot

LOSING TODAY
Mississippi Witch ‘Rot Foot’ (Colony 2). We’re rightly miffed at having missed out this duo’s debut full length ‘Black Gamble’ - by all accounts a bit of a corker though somehow slipping our net - ho hum. Alas those of you with long memories may well recall us fondly raving at length about their debut 7 inch ‘just for Roosevelt’ a killer swamp grooved twin set if I recall rightly (see missive 100). Both these bone rattling beauties - ‘rot root’ and its accompanying flip cut ‘van nuys’ are prized from that aforementioned set, the former shaking its arse in fine style and sounding for the best part like a seriously wired and agitated lo-fi Godfathers dishing out spiked slabs of twisted and festering blues that literally leave scorch marks where grooves used to be. That said it’s the far superior primal sound of ’Van Nuys’ which has been found spanking our hi-fi to within an inch of its life each and every time we’ve turned our back, a swamp risen bastard slice of blistered blues boogie that for all the world sounds like its been ripped from Satan’s arse pocket, a grizzled portion of smoked dust ridden dragster styled rumbling hoochie coochie that comes packing its own mojo bag while bolted to its under carriage you’ll find mooching some sterling snake winding riffs of a RL Burnside calibre albeit as though impishly sabotaged by the Ministry. Utterly cool - beats me how you can live without it.


LOOSE RECORD
I hope by now, dear friends, that you trust my judgment somewhat. So when I tell you (again) how much I love that rapscallion pair of ex-Pat Yanks who now call the UK home known as Mississippi Witch, I would hope you would spare a moment (or several) to check them out. The boys of the Witch are a roustabout duo, up to no good in the best possible way. The music they make is utterly divine, saturated with the rhythms of the Deep South and the space oddities of the deserts of the Wild West. How they make such a sweet, terrifying, sensational racket with only two of them is a marvel indeed.

Subba Cultcha
MISSISSIPPI WITCH - ROT FOOT - COLONY2 & RED COB RECORDINGS

Like the horrors on a sedative, with the cramps laying the boot in after…

Rot Foot Single Reviews

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Lyrics

JUST FOR ROOSEVELT

met a little girl in jackson
brought her back down myself
im a goona leave you sometime
im a gonna settle my nerve
when i comiing coming back i tell you
what you gonna do today
when you gonna heed my lesson
nothing left for me to say

Roosevelt
Roosevelt

feeling real cold i tell you
im a goona leave you dead
burn myself in a brush fire
what you gonna do but stare
bought a little girl in jackson
shot a man down in maine
im a coming back in december
im a coming back to stay

met a little girl in jackson
shot a man down in maine
when i coming back i tell you
never gonna be the same

Roosevelt
Turkeyneck
...............................................................

ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO

follow me down , down in the ground
where you will find me
i tolk a gun out in the clouds
shooting at the thief
where did you go this doesn't change
now i have been seen
follow me down follow me down follow me down

if you hear them call
they've found out
lord myself
if my bones should crawl
they sink down in the woods

Albuquerque
Follow
New Mexico

follow me down, down in the woods
looking for the thief
my love will cut you deep
i tolk a gun out in the clouds
looking at the tree's
my soul comes for free

Albuquerque
A New Mexico
Follow

all is gone
black rider
hog killing
cut you deep
albuquerque
follow
blind myself
a new mexico
.............................................................

Alligator Mechanics

fold my hands my head is brown
lazy eye will lay you down
guess you know the waters high
split my gum just say goodbye

did you hear a little sound
all his friends are dead not found
please allow this man to cry
tap the knife on his glass eye

pull the string my heart will cave
little girl you sit and pray
all along we gauge your side
overgrown a single bite..

.............................................................

Black Gamble

my black gamble carrys on, and im falling at my feet
i dont need a doctor calling back at me
my black gamble carrys on now its all so clean to me
send a fucking letter from the place that you live girl
i dont need a preacher cause ive got the lid gold

my black gamble carrys on now, he sells you what you need
i bold need the preacher when he holding on to me
my black gamble lingers on now, crawling down to see
send your little head right down in the grass now
lean a few left, red cob in the back now

my black gamble lingers on now
its all the same to me girl
i dont need a servant, i just need to see
my black gamble lingers on now falling down to see
send a fucking letter to the place that i live now
i just need a lick of the lid gold

.............................................................
Lampio

ive been listening to the lesson you've been giving
its hard for me to carry them bones
clean the blood from the food ive been serving
im calling from an empty phone
aint you tied from the money you've been spending
crawl outside in a half black mold
gonna call cause i know that your pretending
he's craving so

drink the sour from a dark black lincoln
salt bread for you and your kin
all the lights in my mouth keep a fading
on the floor you lying in sin
ive been listening to the lesson you've been giving
my friend you line your tongue
run you head and knot that ribbon
it swells

ive been listening to the lesson you've been giving
its hard for me to carry them bones
you tied from the money you've been spending
its dying now
i see in your mouth you be drooling
crack the lips so nice and slow
your head in a pot i be brewing
it's tall
.............................................................
Starving of the Bee

clog my veins with your bourbon
pour whats left on the floor
the empty flag that you lean on
calls my name no more
im a modern mussolini
clean my rotted crown
my heart beats slow in the basin
turn your head and frown

curl my toes for the teaching
feed that bee from the hand
the sunken man you will lean on
will shortly find his man
im a broken backbone
raise my bludgened skull
ive taken close with the willow
it smites me till im full

pack my shell full of meat
foam your hollow boawl
stone bake nice and deep
its better off in the the ground
im a falted ya ya
time to heal my young
the grape vine fell to pieces
fill my blackend lung oh

.............................................................
Rot Foot

i dont need what your selling me
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i dont need what you've given me
its gone bad lord its gone bad
get down

i dont need what your selling me
its gone bad down in mississippi
i dont need what your giving me
its gone bad lord its gone bad

he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad
he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad

i dont need what your selling me
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i dont need what your'e telling me
its gone bad lord its gone bad

he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad

Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot

he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad

Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot

.............................................................
Van Nuys

i cling for something more piculiar
a salty pill i cannot hide
when i go i should be telling her
breed no more this life
all you sing is broken things
sit him down again
im banging on your back door
please just let me in

just cut me one more little piece
cause i cant take you home
im calling on myself now
im leaning on your throne
there is nothing left to hide
you coming down again
im banging on your back door
i left a little tin

i can only help myself
one more little time
he's leaking on the left side
nothing left to find

i can only help myself
one more little time
he's leaking on the left side
nothing left to hide

i cling for something more piculiar
a salty pill i cannot hide
when i go i should be telling her
breed no more this life
all you send is dirty things
sit him down again
im banging on your front door
you best not let me in

i can only help myself
one more little time
he's leaking on the left side
nothing left to hide

i can only help myself
one more little time
im coming from the left side
there nothing left for you now

.............................................................
White Eye

im the white eye in your blood steam
im a necktie on the move again
i will trail you to the white sand
im the full grain in your left hand

im a tail wind you pass me by
im a sure thing in my own mind
i breath to help myself
cold me so to lend

im the white eye in your blood steam
im a necktie on the move again
i will trail you to the white sand
im the full grain in your left hand

.............................................................
Calipah

all you said is gone
you stamping on my head
in my eyes you died
you come again, you come again

all you said is done
you craving after more
the salt is in you mind
you coming down, you coming down

nothing left to find
it seems to drag you down
sinks inside your arm
it bleeds again, it bleeds again

all you said is done
you stamping on my head
in my eyes you died
you come again

you stamping on my head
in my eyes you died
you come again, you come again

nothing left to find
it seems to drag you down
sinks inside your arm
it bleeds again, it bleeds again

LYRICS WRITTEN BY OLI WALKER
COPYRIGHT CONTROL c
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED...

ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO

follow me down , down in the ground
where you will find me
i tolk a gun out in the clouds
shooting at the thief
where did you go this doesn't change
now i have been seen
follow me down follow me down follow me down

if you hear them call
they've found out
lord myself
if my bones should crawl
they sink down in the woods

Albuquerque
Follow
New Mexico

follow me down, down in the woods
looking for the thief
my love will cut you deep
i tolk a gun out in the clouds
looking at the tree's
my soul comes for free

Albuquerque
A New Mexico
Follow

all is gone
black rider
hog killing
cut you deep
albuquerque
follow
blind myself
a new mexico
.............................................................

ALLIGATOR MECHANICS

fold my hands my head is brown
lazy eye will lay you down
guess you know the waters high
split my gum just say goodbye

did you hear a little sound
all his friends are dead not found
please allow this man to cry
tap the knife on his glass eye

pull the string my heart will cave
little girl you sit and pray
all along we gauge your side
overgrown a single bite..

.............................................................

LYRICS

Page 2

BLACK GAMBLE

my black gamble carrys on, and im falling at my feet
i dont need a doctor calling back at me
my black gamble carrys on now its all so clear to me
send a fucking letter from the place that you live girl
i dont need a preacher cause ive got the lid gold

my black gamble carrys on now, he sells you what you need
i bold need the preacher when he holding on to me
my black gamble lingers on now, crawling down to see
send your little head right down in the grass now
lean a few left, red cob in the back now

my black gamble lingers on now
its all the same to me girl
i dont need a servant, i just need to see
my black gamble lingers on now falling down to see
send a fucking letter to the place that i live now
i just need a lick of the lid gold

.............................................................

LAMPIO

ive been listening to the lesson you've been giving
its hard for me to carry them bones
clean the blood from the food ive been serving
im calling from an empty phone
aint you tied from the money you've been spending
crawl outside in a half black mold
gonna call cause i know that your pretending
he's craving so

drink the sour from a dark black lincoln
salt bread for you and your kin
all the lights in my mouth keep a fading
on the floor you lying in sin
ive been listening to the lesson you've been giving
my friend you line your tongue
run you head and knot that ribbon
it swells

ive been listening to the lesson you've been giving
its hard for me to carry them bones
you tied from the money you've been spending
its dying now
i see in your mouth you be drooling
crack the lips so nice and slow
your head in a pot i be brewing
it's tall
.............................................................

STARVING OF THE BEE

clog my veins with your bourbon
pour whats left on the floor
the empty flag that you lean on
calls my name no more
im a modern mussolini
clean my rotted crown
my heart beats slow in the basin
turn your head and frown

curl my toes for the teaching
feed that bee from the hand
the sunken man you will lean on
will shortly find his man
im a broken backbone
raise my bludgened skull
ive taken close with the willow
it smites me till im full

pack my shell full of meat
foam your hollow boawl
stone bake nice and deep
its better off in the the ground
im a falted ya ya
time to heal my young
the grape vine fell to pieces
fill my blackend lung oh

.............................................................

Page 3

ROT FOOT

i dont need what your selling me
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i dont need what you've given me
its gone bad lord its gone bad
get down

i dont need what your selling me
its gone bad down in mississippi
i dont need what your giving me
its gone bad lord its gone bad

he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad
he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad

i dont need what your selling me
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i dont need what your'e telling me
its gone bad lord its gone bad

he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad

Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot

he do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad
i do not listen to what i say
its gone bad lord its gone bad

Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot
Rot Foot

.............................................................

VAN NUYS

i cling for something more piculiar
a salty pill i cannot hide
when i go i should be telling her
breed no more this life
all you sing is broken things
sit him down again
im banging on your back door
please just let me in

just cut me one more little piece
cause i cant take you home
im calling on myself now
im leaning on your throne
there is nothing left to hide
you coming down again
im banging on your back door
i left a little tin

i can only help myself
one more little time
he's leaking on the left side
nothing left to find

i can only help myself
one more little time
he's leaking on the left side
nothing left to hide

i cling for something more piculiar
a salty pill i cannot hide
when i go i should be telling her
breed no more this life
all you send is dirty things
sit him down again
im banging on your front door
you best not let me in

i can only help myself
one more little time
he's leaking on the left side
nothing left to hide

i can only help myself
one more little time
im coming from the left side
there nothing left for you now

.............................................................

WHITE EYE

im the white eye in your blood steam
im a necktie on the move again
i will trail you to the white sand
im the full grain in your left hand

im a tail wind you pass me by
im a sure thing in my own mind
i breath to help myself
cold me so to lend

im the white eye in your blood steam
im a necktie on the move again
i will trail you to the white sand
im the full grain in your left hand

.............................................................

Page 4

CALIPAH

all you said is gone
you stamping on my head
in my eyes you died
you come again, you come again

all you said is done
you craving after more
the salt is in your mind
you coming down, you coming down

nothing left to find
it seems to drag you down
sinks inside your arm
it bleeds again, it bleeds again

all you said is done
you stamping on my head
in my eyes you died
you come again

you stamping on my head
in my eyes you died
you come again, you come again

nothing left to find
it seems to drag you down
sinks inside your arm
it bleeds again, it bleeds again

all lyrics written by Oli Walker all rights reserved copyright control 2008

Merchandise

MERCHADISE

Artwork

ARTWORK

Roosevelt

Rot Foot

Video

VIDEO / ANIMATION / ARTWORK BY YVONNE KENGEN (Copyright Control)

Clippings