Album Review: Nikki Hill – Feline Roots

Today, Friday April 24th 2020, Hound Gawd! Records are finally set to give “Feline Roots”, the third album from Nikki Hill, a long overdue physical release across Europe, so if you reside in that continent and aren’t familiar with Nikki Hill, as I wasn’t before this landed in my inbox, then now is the is time. Hill’s previous releases, 2013’s “Here’s Nikki Hill” and 2015’s “Heavy Heart, Hard Fists” both threw back to the very roots of rock ‘n roll, but on her 2018 release Nikki Hill‘s roots rock ‘n roll has been supercharged into a very different beast, one that is finally making it’s presence known in Europe.

‘Get Down, Crawl‘ is the first cut on “Feline Roots“, steamy heavyweight soul is married harmoniously with a distorted garage punk sneer, this is followed by the pure rock ‘n roll of ‘Don’t Be The Sucker‘. Over the ten tracks that comprise “Feline Roots” Nikki Hill takes you through a tour of everything from the root of rock ‘n roll onwards, blending pulsating garage rock with seductive soul, rock and punk, with reggae creeping into the mix on ‘Can’t Love You Back (It’s A Shame)‘. Whilst the album constantly shifts in style the one constant factor is Nikki Hill‘s seductive vocal delivery, one that balances rock ‘n roll attitude with smooth soulful honeyed tones perfectly.

“Feline Roots” is delirious and damn near perfect collision between rock ‘n roll, punk, blues and soul, and pretty much everything else that matters, that is all delivered with an almost evangelical fervour. You can hear the roots of rock ‘n roll in every note, everyone from Sister Rosetta Tharpe through to Johnny Thunders and Bad Brains can be heard deep in the grooves of Nikki Hill’s “Feline Roots“. There are obvious comparisons to be drawn with The Bellrays, something that is never going to be a bad thing in my book, but Nikki Hill is doing this on her own terms and isn’t riding in anyone’s wake.

“Feline Roots” can be purchased on CD and vinyl in Europe via Hound Gawd! Records here, the album is also available digitally everywhere, and on physical formats in North America, via Bandcamp here