You Can't Poison a Pig in Bloomington, MN

A band name like
Pig in a Can
leads the listener to hope that this modern
blues
project owes more to
Captain Beefheart
than
Robert Cray
. Indeed, tracks like the spookily atmospheric title song, basically a found piece of rural philosophy by
Harmonica Slim
set to an
ambient
-
backdrop, are effectively weird. Unfortunately, the proper songs suffer from a severe skronk deficit;
"Tried to Get Along"
wouldn't sound out of place on a
Moby
album, and
"Don't Leave Me Baby"
sounds like someone has attempted a mash-up of an old
Lightnin' Slim
outtake with the rhythm track from a mid-'80s
Ministry
song. At its best,
electric blues
can often have a chaotic, edge-of-madness feel, as the emotions of the lyrics and passion of the playing threaten to erupt unexpectedly. By the end of
You Can't Poison a Pig
, it's clear that this collective is simply too restrained for that. It would help if the pig wanted to get out of his can a little more often. ~ Stewart Mason