Love Potions And Snake Oil, the debut album of D.B. Rielly, takes his listeners
to a nostalgic journey into a previous era, where good music formed the textures
of the American Sonic landscape. The opening track on Love Potions And
Snake Oil spits out a beautiful Zydeco tune ("One of These Days") followed by
some alt.country ("Don’t Give Up On Me") and a terrific ballad ("Save All Your
Kisses") which is in fact also the first radio single for this album. With “I Got A
Girlfriend”, D.B. not only returns to the zydeco genre, but he also shows some
sense of humor in his lyrics. “Changed My Mind” and “Got A Mind” throws in
some classic blues. “We’re All Going Straight To Hell” borrows from an artist
like Hank Williams III and shows once more that not everything must be taken
too seriously.
D.B. Rielly has various talents when it comes to musical instruments and he
certainly masters the banjo, accordion and guitar as you can witness on this
album. But most important of all is his voice, a unique instrument that ties
together all the tracks on this CD. Another fact that can be said about D.B. is that
he knows music. As a matter of fact, he is music. Through various tunes and the
always-varying roots genre, it quickly becomes clear that Mr. Rielly lives for his
music. It is American Roots Music as it should be that you’ll find on this album!
From Zydeco, to Alt-Country and Blues, it is all comprised in this box! And
with that said I come to another point that I need to express! Love Potions and
Snake Oil is truly a good album with some very good music, but there is more!
The CD is not packed in a standard jewel case, but in a metal box! Think about
a metal cigar case. Together with some nice artwork and an inlay, the complete
set immediately attracts your attention! In a world were everything ends up on a
server somewhere in cyberspace, it is truly a good idea to be different and D.B.
certainly is! Not only music-wise, but also marketing-wise! Love Potions and
Snake Oil is a keeper for sure.
4 STARS
— BillyBop Magazine