Enjoying a 35-year association with Alligator Records, Rick Estrin collaborated with Little Charlie Baty for nine Alligator releases as part of Little Charlie & the Nightcats from 1989 until Baty’s retirement in 2008, then formed Rick Estrin & the Nightcats in 2009.

With Estrin contributing his sly vocals and his extraordinary songwriting and harmonica, the second Nightcats edition, with Kid Andersen on guitar, Lorenzo Farrell on keyboards/bass, and Derrick “D’Mar” Martin on drums, has proved as potent as the first.

The Hits Keep Coming is Estrin & the Nightcats’ sixth album on Alligator, consisting of a dozen superb contemporary blues, with ten originals written or co-written by the band and two interesting covers. Bassist supreme Jerry Jemmott plays bass on half the tracks, the Sons Of The Soul Revivers contribute background vocals on four tracks, and other assorted guests appear on additional tracks.

The upbeat, driving Estrin original, “Somewhere Else,” is a rousing kiss-off tune and gets the album off to a rousing start. The title track follows, a world-weary slow blues about the unending issues facing all of us these days, and “The Circus Is Still In Town,” written by Estrin and Jim Liban, is another tune with upbeat rhythm (Andersen’s cool, twangy guitar propels the tune) but the subject matter is quite grim, being Estrin’s former drug problem, which is fortunately in his rear view mirror these days.

The first cover is Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows.” While Cohen tunes are not traditionally a thing on blues albums, Estrin’s laconic delivery (backed by the Sons Of The Soul Revivers) makes it an irresistible choice. Meanwhile, “Finally Hit The Bottom” is a primo slow burner, the second cover, a cool read of Muddy Waters’ “Diamonds At Your Feet,” is top notch, and the lively “911” and the laidback “I Ain’t Worried About Nothin’” show why Estrin is still one of the best songwriters in the blues genre.

“Learn To Lose” is a great slow blues about taking the bad with the good while wading through it all,  featuring first rate musical interaction. This band is most impressive, and that’s made even more obvious on the swinging instrumental “Sack O’ Kools,” where each band member gets ample space to stretch their legs. “Time For Me To Go” is a smooth, after-hours blues, but don’t fret --- it’s not really time for the band to go.

The album actually wraps with the entertaining “Whatever Happened to Dobie Strange?,” where Estrin recounts all the questions he’s gotten over his Nightcat years when he was often mistaken for Charlie Baty (Dobie Strange was actually the Nightcats drummer in the ’90s). It’s a greasy, funky barrel of fun, featuring background vocals from Charlie Musselwhite, Marty Dodson, Lisa Leuschner Andersen, Bob Welsh, and “Boopsy Callinz” (D’Mar’s spot-on impression of the bass legend).

The Hits Keep Coming is another wonderful release from one of the finest blues bands in the land. After 35 years with Alligator, Rick Estrin has built a strong and consistent catalog of memorable tunes and albums with the Nightcats (in both incarnations), and show no signs of slowing down.

--- Graham Clarke