Badlands

Not to be confused with a Led Zeppelin cover band, Trampled Under Foot is a solid blues trio from Kansas City whose fifth album, Badlands, shows why the group is a blues-circuit staple. With siblings Danielle Schnebelen on lead vocals and bass, Nick Schnebelen on guitars and vocals, and Kris Schnebelen on drums, the members grew up hearing their father's band Little Eva. (Dad played guitar.) Here, the sound is solid and smooth, with keyboardist Mike Finnigan (Jimi Hendrix, CSN, Joe Cocker) providing color where necessary. Danielle leads the way on "Bad Bad Feeling" and sums things up on the cover of James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," a gutsy move for a blues band. The title track features Danielle and Nick trading vocals on the album's most mature groove, where they manage to give off Southern heat without overcooking a thing.