The debut album from Finnish blues fand 3rd Call Men, titled “Waiting For A Call”, has been produced and mixed as an entirely analog recording by Tomi Leino at Supravox Studios.

Including ten original tracks, the record explicitly aims to present the genre’s purest roots. However, the final result falls short, earning a modest 2.5 out of 5 stars based on my personal taste, without trying to pontificate.

On a technical level, the instrumentation’s sound and the organic warmth that the traditional recording process give to the album, stand out as the strongest values. Yet, despite creating a pleasant atmosphere, the composition’s development lacks the strong grit and innovation required to cut through today’s crowded blues landscape. Several blues and soul-blues songs become a little bit monotonous, with predictable structures that fail to fully captivate listeners. While the vocal and instrumental performances are perfectly suitable, covering the basic standards of the genre, they fail to infuse the raw, vibrant emotional weight that defines live blues.

In short words, “Waiting For A Call” is a respectable effort that will certainly please traditional analog purists, but it fails in delivering memorable moments or dynamic shifts to break up the track list uniformity. It is a  totally acceptable release, but that feels flat and lacking spark.