Too Slim & The Taildraggers - King Size Troublemakers (2000)

This is string-bending, guitar orientated, blues based rock & roll, with some hard-rocking northwestern attitude thrown in for spice. Too Slim keeps the pace from ever getting stagnant by changing it around all the time; he has arranged the songs well. He wrote all but 3 of the songs, and 2 of those 3 he co-wrote. He isn't going to win any prizes for his vocals, but they are more than adequate, and actually quite good on the rousing country stomper, Big Barn Boogie. There are no weak songs on this disc and for me the strongest song is the last cut Rosado. This is a laid back sleepy blues tune that puts me in mind of Santo and Johnny's Sleepwalk in the way it quietly and sinuously keeps pushing towards the finish. The Taildraggers are ably assisted by the addition of 3 sparkling guests to give that extra finish to the sound, Mark Hummel on harmonica, Sam "lightening" Hopkins - guitar and Dave Cebert on piano. This is a benchmark for the group.
AllMusic Review by Bob Gottlieb