Personnel: Dave Hole (guitar, vocals), Bob Patient (keyboards), John "Hambone" Wilson (bass), Ronnie "Greystple" Parker (drums, percussion).
Recorded at Planet Studios, Perth, Australia. Includes liner notes by Bruce Iglauer.
Dave Hole's American debut album is a stunning display of slide guitar pyrotechnics. Hole runs through a dizzying array of licks and solos, pulling out a variety of different tones and textures from his guitar. He can play it straight and greasy, or spooky, tough and gritty, or subtle and melodic -- his technique is quite impressive. Although the songs themselves are occasionally weak, Short Fuse Blues is essentially a guitar record, so the songs don't matter as much as the playing. And the playing is superb throughout. ~ Thom Owens
Professional Reviews
Spin (9/92, p.107) - Highly Recommended - "...Dave Hole [who hails from Australia] plays slide guitar like he learned it at an American juke joint...you would be amazed by Hole's breathtaking pyrotechnics. His range is almost inconceivably broad..."
Down Beat (11/92, p.49) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...Dave Hole is every bit the fire-fingered guitar monster he's being promoted as--he also shows more melodic and harmonic imagination than many of his ilk..."
