Boxcar Satan and Ghostwriter - Hobo Nouveau (Dogfingers / End Of The West) Imagine if Tom Waits and Tim Armstrong of Rancid got together to make a blues album darker and swampier than the Black Lagoon. This is the case on Boxcar Satan’s fourth offering, joined on this release by the usually one man band Steve Schecter aka Ghostwriter. The vocal duties are shared between Schecter and Boxcar’s Sanford Allen, occasionally uniting for the odd track such as their rendition of Dylan’s “Serve Somebody”, turning it into an avalanche of deep throated growls. One of several covers on the album, they also tear through Woody Guthrie’s “Jesus Christ” in similar fashion. They’re at their best on their own songs however. “Blood On My Mind” is an old-fashioned chain gang hymn which gradually becomes more and more sinister. “Circus” is downright creepy whilst “People” contains a strong contender for line of the year so far with ‘people, you can’t live with ‘em/But you can’t kill ‘em cos you don’t wanna go to prison’. Superb stuff. www.dogfingers.com Michael B. Next