Album review: Walter Trout – Sign Of The Times

By PETER COATES

GREAT artists take the pulse of their times.

In his half-century as a street-level social observer and scaldingly honest songwriter, blues-rock’s resilient icon Walter Trout has never told his fans what to think, how to feel, where to stand politically or what to scrawl on their protest placards. But in an era when his home nation is ripping at the
seams over the battlelines of modern life, Trout’s new album, Sign Of The Times, is the primal scream and pressure valve we all desperately need.

“I wanted to convey the anger and angst going on in the world,” explains the 74-year-old. “For me, writing these songs is therapy. They’re not just about what’s happening out there, but how it affects you in your head. Sign Of The Times just became the obvious title…”

With 10 songs written and demo’d Trout called up his studio band – longtime drummer Michael Leasure, bassist John Avila and keys man Teddy ‘Zig Zag’ Andreadis – for sessions at producer Thomas Ross Johansen’s Strawhorse Studios in Los Angeles, and the tinderbox subject matter sparked one of the toughest-sounding records in his catalogue.

The album explodes into life with “Artificial”, driven by raucous guitars and harmonica, and lyrics bemoaning the fakeness of the present day world, while the grinding riff is very real indeed, and we get the first of a number of sizzling solos over the chugging bass and drums. Back to a more normal – if intense – blues ballad in “Blood On My Pillow”, which highlights Trout’s slightly gravelly blues voice and allows a gentle string-bending solo to show off the dexterity in the elder statesman’s fingers, surrounded by the lush keyboards.

The title track of the record is undeniably not a blues song – it is a classic heavy prog-rock workout that would not be out of place on an old Uriah Heep or more current Monster Truck record. And it has a somewhat dissonant sound (as per the current times) with the guitar tuned down to D and the grungiest tone you would have heard from Trout. This will be an insane live track, so please come back Down Under in 2026! The solo here is very much in line with the discordant riffs and the heavy, almost industrial backing, and Trout says he has played it to blues fans who were frankly outraged!

There is a dramatic change of pace with “Mona Lisa, Smile” as we move into an acoustic folksy ballad in a tribute to has long-time partner Marie, also the writer of many of the album lyrics. This is just a beautiful love song, full of all of the emotion generated by their clearly strong relationship. “Hurt No More” is said to be a “recovery song” reflecting on Trout’s time with the Bluesbeakers under the recently passed John Mayall. This is a fairly standard guitar-driven number, but Trout provides a cracker of a solo over the core riff, and the really atmospheric backing vocals, and the closing lead break is just a joy.

Old school outrageous lead guitar opens up “No Strings Attached” before a spoken word verse delivered with an unusual level of vitriol, showing Trout’s feelings on those who pour scorn on anyone else’s beliefs. The backing band lay down a solid blues beat and impressive wall of noise, while Trout throws out break after break, and the second solo is even more impressive than the first – noting John Avila showing off with some powerhouse bass lines.

There is a return to lightness with the Springsteen-like “I Remember” showing off Trout’s New Jersey roots,and the impassioned delivery of the almost-poetic mid-section sets out Trout’s deeply held belief that there is hope in the world somewhere, and that when you feel that, it can shut out the negatives that seem so prevalent, and the final chorus fades out with some delightful harmony guitars.

The piano-driven bar-room boogie of “Hightech Woman” (another nod to Marie) allows Trout to have some fun with Teddy Andreadis, trading piano and guitar-licks before the traditional set of accents leads into another slick solo, and as a bonus some more searing fretboard fireworks over the closing segment.

A tribute to the Piedmont blues duo Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee in the stripped back Delta-blues of “Too Bad” really shows off a different side to Trout – and it may be that the lyrics reflect the fact that this pair ended their 40-year relationship barely on speaking terms.

The album ends in more typical Walter Trout style, with the hard-punching blues rock of “Struggle To Believe that is over six minutes of blazing guitar riffs and lead breaks, while Leasure and Avila lay down an urgent backbeat overlaid with the rolling bassline, and Andreadis provides the layers of keyboard harmonies that give a real depth of soundscape. The guitar work here is enormously varied, and the vocals get more and more impassioned as the song progresses into a guitar-fuelled
jam that will no doubt become an amazing set-closer on the live shows.

Walter Trout has been on a huge run of dates through the United States and then into Europe, and is now back in the US for the second leg of the tour, then he heads to Scandinavia and Germany again for multiple shows in October and November.

After his time as a sideman with the likes of Joe Tex and John Lee Hooker, then as a member of both Canned Heat and the Bluesbreakers, Trout has now been a solo act for over 35 year. And with more than 20 albums released in his own right, he can certainly be considered one of the blues-rock greats – the last four albums released since 2020 have all demonstrated the highest quality of writing and musicianship, and having his long-time touring band also in the studio with him provides some additional feeling and familiarity that is irreplaceable.

Get Sign Of The Times on CD and vinyl