Jesse Ray and The Carolina Catfish - “Sweet Like Sugar”

When it comes to the raw and gritty sounds of garage rock, we are quite picky with the music that we choose to adorn the pages of our blog. But rest assured that the new single from Jesse Ray and The Carolina Catfish comes to you only after being thoroughly vetted by our exclusive team of indie-rock taste-testers.

The name of the tune is “Sweet Like Sugar” and, as implied by its title, this one is like candy for your ear holes. The Michigan-based duo deliver the goods via some straight-up, dirt-coated blues and lovers of The Black Keys shall be immediately delighted. Once you hear the vocal stylings of Jesse Ray, it will become apparent as to why this song found its way onto the blog, as they check each and every last of our indie rock boxes: grit, style, attitude, and one of the tightest vibratos we’ve heard all year.

And, of course, we could not publish this review without first giving proper credit to drummer Paul Jensen who is responsible for fifty percent of this wall of sound. Quite honestly, for two dudes from Grand Rapids, this beast of a track sounds like a f’ing freight train. It’s the kind of sound that will convince the listener that Ray and Jensen have been playing together since birth– the music is tight as all hell and if “Sweet Like Sugar” is any indication as to what the rest of their upcoming LP, Sick-N-Tired, will sound like, take our money now.

-TM