blue rider

Doses of bluesy rock n' roll are rolled out onto this EP by the band that once used to go by the name of Rollo. Now Blue Rider gives us a somewhat different sound that is more countrified punk blues.... still got that swagger that we previously heard .... combines a stronger sense of American culture and an authentic sound. - Lio

"Blue Rider (from Brooklyn and formally known as Rollo) reminds me of a modern day X. Their style of new-wave garage rock has boy/girl vocals, sweet basslines, and a certain debauchery feel to it." - by Mystery and Misery 3/05 - Mystery and Misery

Hold on a second, they burned this on a computer? Just a minute now, they're from New York? Has the whole world gone topsy-turvy? This here is some volatile southern-tinged punk-infused blues-rock from folks who know what hyphenated music is supposed to taste like. Mr. Hubert Dulay's fingers emit godlike downhome guitar noodling, but at a blistering rate that you can barely follow. Jon Dillon switches gears and dares the rest to follow along on his smash-and-grab spree. (They do.) Enter Sally Donovan on the breathy vocals for an authentic X on moonshine sound, and you've got something incredible to write home about.
Dear Mom,
Here are some real sleazy songs I just know you'll dig. Several of them are about hookers. And while the subjects are juvenile, the tunes are quite mature. They all have rich textures and a very satisfying sound. I can't find a thing to complain about.
-Ewan Wadharmi - Hybrid Music review

New band name alert: the artists formally known as Rollo have become Blue Rider. That's hot....fully loaded with hot 70's guitar riffs (via Hubert), some serious kickass drumming (via John), and airbrushed with Sal's sweet-but-not-so-innocent vocal stylings. They drive a fast, hard show....check 'em out - by cowgirl in the sand 3/05 - Cowgirl in the sand

"Rollo's fist-in-the-eye brand of rock... raw, garge, punk rock, heavy on the 70s style but with enough of a modern slant to be interesting"
- by Splendid E-zine
- Splendid E-zine

"Great! One of the better cds I have heard in a while"
- Eva Alexiou/Fata Booking
- blueriderrocks@yahoo.com

"Satisfying... (Rollo) deserves it. Very r'n'r in a Jon Spencer BE kind of way"
- Paolo De Gregorio, Editor/The Deli
- Paolo De Gregorio, Editor

"Au départ est la transpiration. Le rock’n’roll fait suer. Le reste en découle : la chatte, bien sûr. Pussy Galore, voilà ce que Rollo nous renvoie salement dans les gencives. Ce n'est pas l'ombre de John Spencer qui plane, ce sont leurs ancêtres communs qui hantent chaque déhanchement, chaque feulement. Cette musique est terriblement SEXUELLE & ELECTRIQUE. Le ventre de New York est comme ça, putain : non pas des flatulences, ni de vagues remous, mais de vrais coups de poignards. Rollo c'est l'ulcère. ROLLO attaque langoureusement le bide à la perceuse. C’est si doux! Normal, tout le monde est bourré. La liqueur fait son effet. On danse sur les tables, et on recommande une tournée. ROLLO : le meilleur groupe de Rock & Roll de 2005."
-DJ NIC, Chronique parue dans ‘Le Son de Paris’, janvier 2005
- on her bathroom mirror

Blue Rider is a four piece from NYC that sound nothing like the garage-rock, cookie cutter, strokes-esque, thing that's going on in the city right now.
The demo sounds like people fucking in a sawdust covered bathroom in a whiskey-fueled honky-tonk in Albuquerque. Blue Rider could have played along side bands like the Clash, or in a small dusty DIY club with Lucero. All the tracks are very uptempo and catchy. The female backup and alternating vocals make it sound like cindy lauper singing behind mick jagger or joe strummer all at once. The songs are rooted in bluesy basslines with dirty distorted guitars layering like huge stack of flapjacks slathered in syrup from wafflehouse. This band gets two thumbs up for originality.
8 giant silver belt buckles out of 10. - chris - www.thehvscene.com

Blue Rider is every band you've ever wanted to hear if you were looking for the Last Road House on the American highways and back-roads. Blue Rider is music you outrun the cops to. It's hooker-in-the-back, shotgun-in-the-seat, needle-in-the-vein rock for those who like it served cold and loud. This music is the soundtrack that precludes the worst night in jail you'd ever have and a hangover that sticks around for three days. Stripped and raw, this trio brings nothing but energy to the table and leaves it all on the track. Sally Donovan's vocals make you believe that she could kick your ass and drink you under the table just as easily as she could shyly coax you into bed to hold her if the night got cold. She mixes a little bit of Marianne Faithful with a little bit of Liz Phair to serious effect. When the track pauses on "Track Star" and Donovan states, "All right..." you know she's lying and you don't care. And what Ms. Donovan brings vocally, she matches with equal intensity on the keys. Hubert Dulay's guitar slinks across the tracks with precision and Dulay presents every lick with a mechanic's hands, oily and dirty and rough. The sound reminds me a little of the last White Stripes record, like what an EP from your dad's collection would sound like if you could just get that damn phonograph to play. And last but not least of all, slithering and rollicking underneath it all, lie Jon Dillon's drum beats. There is nothing flashy here but this man is skilled. Rolling cymbals, a scaled back bass sound, each flair done with enough care to let the listener know that "Hey, if I wanted to, I'd be all your ass would hear" and you love it.
.... Blue Rider has served notice. Y’all better listen up, kids - David Esposito at North East In-Tune