Veteran blues-rockers the Howling Diablos have been mashing-up roots blues and modern-day urban music for more than a decade. The band started life as a pickup band backing blues legends like Hubert Sumlin and Bo Diddley at a Detroit nightclub. With the addition of an unknown turntablist named Robert Ritchie - better known to you as Kid Rock - the band helped create a hybrid style that has sold buttloads of records (for other people). Now, with "Car Wash," the Diablos eschew the loops-and-beats approach and instead kick out some blues jams so funky you'll wonder who left the lid off the garbage pail. This approach was largely inspired by frontman Tino Gross' ongoing production work for Mississippi-based Fat Possum records. He has brought a modern touch to records by R.L. Burnisde and Little Freddie King. In return, he was inspired to return to his own roots as a blues player. He let the band loose in the studio, and it doesn't disappoint. With droning slide guitars and propulsive bass and drums, the Diablos take country blues and put an innovative big-city spin on them. Making a guest appearance on three songs is the great Johnny "Bee" Badanjek of Mitch Ryder's Detroit Wheels. While "Car Wash" is a straight-ahead blues record, the blues have never sounded so contemporary. - Brian J. Bowe / Creem Magazine