Cardiff isn’t necessarily the place that you would associate Alive Records’ usual source of ass-kicking punk blues but in this case, it is. The Welsh brothers, Aled and Brennig Clifford make up the duo that on this rare occasion has led Alive out of the United States.
There is absolutely no treading on egg shells with this record. Gritty, overdriven guitar riffs, gravely deep vocals and saw-off, pump action drumming in abundance. Simple, straight forward punk blues which draws on early Black Keys and a slight grunge undertone. The tracks are built on catchy guitar intros such as self-titled Henry’s Funeral Shoe, Down The Line and Coming On Through which are nailed home by Brennig’s terrifyingly punishing drumming style. A gentle hint of dynamics does lend itself to the album but it doesn’t stray far. Leading out, Second Hand Prayer takes on a dirty bite of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the final surprise of Mary’s Tune, a pretty acoustic ditty. After all the thunder that is Henry’s Funeral Shoe, they leave the record with a tuneful harmonica and something a little bit country.
Just because this record was recorded in just a few days doesn’t mean anything has been missed, infact the raw power of a punk blues duo, driven by passion has been captured in its entirety. Everything’s For Sale certainly carries the heavy punch that you would expect from any Alive release and of course Henry’s Funeral Shoe wear their influences on their sleeve. This is a band that proves the nu-blues movement in the U.K is very much awake and raising the bar. – Will Bray / Blues In London
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This Debut release from UK’s (Henry’s Funeral Shoe) has my head spinning with all kinds of possible influences that helped shape this band. Blue Oyster Cult, The Cult, Creadance Clearwater Revival and many many more without going over the line of what a great Blues inspired Rock’n Roll band should be these days. HFS has stepped things up to a new level with more powerful drums, heavy low tone guitars and slide guitar added in just at the right moments that make this disc unique and worthy of a listen. Two piece bands are not uncommon these day’s as long as it is done right, and these guy’s are on to something. Most noteable tracks (EMPTY CHURCH) gives a feeling of just Low Down Dirty Raw emotions that scratch at the surface of the soul with The Devil standing rightÊbehind ready for another collection… as to where (MARY’S TUNE) brings things back into the light with a more balanced approach to song writing with all acoustic guitars, harmonica and still perfect drums backing. This entire discÊthe Guitars and Drums compliment each other as to some other two piecer’s there is usually one overpowering the other…but in this case… it has been handled perfectly. I’m quite surprised at the quality this bandÊhas put into this CD and greatful at the same time. 10 songs just under 35 minutes…and a fantastic first release. I bet these guys are great live. – Dave Fishwick / The Neus Subject
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There’s nothing radically new on this debut from Henry’s Funeral Shoe, but the guitar and drum combo have a raw, fuzzed-out, garage-boogie attitude and a riff-o-rama sensibility that is pretty endearing. Their sound can be heavy as a 2000 lb. budgie, menacing as a back-alley swaying drunk, and when they crank up the riffing or let rip with some high-octane slide, it’s as transporting as anything by post-Mississippi Fred McDowell. – M. Edwards / PopMatters
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Henry’s choice of footwear at bereavement may be an unusual name for a duo but it fits this Blues/Rock band of quite literally brothers from South Wales. There are no minced morsels from these pair just prime cuts of pure raw meaty riffs and kicking drums. Aled’s voice ranges from a Tom Waits growl (with just enough gravel to avoid parody) to folk singer via god old eighties style rocker. The whole albums sound is so full that you have to tell yourself, it’s just two guys, a drum kit, guitar and a few pedals. Having had the privilege of seeing them perform live, its no studio trickery the sound is that intense. Down The Line and Don’t Lose The Rhythm breath fresh life into the corpse of rock duos, Stranger Dig had me surprisingly whistling the riff and some of the work on Empty Church is just stunning. Maria Maria is slightly more commercial and has single written over it. From the chugging intro of Henry’s Funeral Shoe to the mellower Mary’s Tune, listeners are treated to some of the blackest guitar and drum work to come out of Wales, in fact the blackest thing from the Valleys since Anthracite was first mined. Amongst the feedback and crashing cymbals the most important thing that HFS bring to the party are a collection of ten fantastic, well written songs. – Chris Phillips / BRMF
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Welsh rockers Henry’s Funeral Shoe sound like a classic-era power trio with just a bit of punch missing in the low end, and on their debut album, Everything’s for Sale, you might not miss it if you aren’t really looking. Aled Clifford’s big, chunky guitar tones (often augmented with slide licks) are rich enough to fill plenty of space on their own, and between his mucho gusto singing and Brenning Clifford’s muscular drumming, there’s more than enough energy here to suggest a phantom third member. The Clifford brothers have also learned how to crank up the blues power, and Everything’s for Sale boasts both stripped-down force and high-impact emotional energy, with Aled’s vocals suggesting both Tom Waits’ grit and Nick Cave’s gravitas while the guitar roars with gutbucket conviction and a rocker’s desire to turn that volume knob to the right. Henry’s Funeral Shoe are a truly fine band, regardless of their small size. – Mark Deming / All Music Guide
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By now, the whole two-piece rock phenomenon doesn’t pack the punch that it once did. It has been proven time and time again that two musicians can bring enough to the table to suffice for a full band sound and folks aren’t as easily blown away as they once were. Therefore, bands that choose to go this route are forced to put a hell of a lot more blood, sweat, and tears into songwriting and musicianship just to stand out in the crowd. Like most other two-piece rock outfits in the Alive Records arsenal, Henry’s Funeral Shoe remain deeply rooted in the blues rock traditions, at the same time bringing something refreshing and new to the genre with a great ear for hook-laden songwriting and tremendous musical talent.

In a nutshell, these Welsh rockers are not as gritty and don’t kick you in the teeth as do several of their Alive brethren including the Black Diamond Heavies and Left Lane Cruiser. They fall more along the lines of early Black Keys, if the Black Keys grew up listening to a lot more of the Who and other British powerhouses. With Everything’s For Sale, Henry’s Funeral Shoe keeps things simple, with a large emphasis placed on the melody of the guitar riffs themselves and the tones used by guitarist/vocalist Aled Clifford. The guitar work is warm, fuzzy at times, and heavily steeped in the blues, reminiscent of early Peter Green and Marc Ford. Vocally, Aled Clifford sounds a great deal similar to the late, great Shannon Hoon and even a smidgen like Jon Spencer from time to time. Aled’s younger brother, Brennig fills the percussive duties that are very heavy on the tom-toms and kick drum, which thickens the low end of things for the overall mix of the album itself. Highlights for me include, "Down the Line" and "Stranger Dig" that bring a Southern, delta blues feel in the mix, complete with mean slide guitar work that would bring a smile to John Lee Hooker’s face. Another standout track is "It’s a Long Way" which is much darker than their other material on the album, reminding me somewhat of a Morphine tune. Everything’s For Sale winds down in the end with "Mary’s Song", a beautiful, acoustic number complemented with light harmonica and brush work on the snare drum.

Henry’s Funeral Shoe is a band that I have been hearing about for a while and this debut was damn sure worth the wait in the end. A band couldn’t ask for a better sound than what was achieved on Everything’s For Sale and I feel that they are only hitting the tip of the iceberg with this one. I am sure that Henry’s Funeral Shoe and Alive Records have great things planned for us in the future and all we can do now is sit on our asses and wait patiently. – Andrew Bryant / Disc Exchange
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Aled mixes in fierce, guttural vocals with softer tones. “Don’t Lose The Rhythm” is a great tune where he blends both styles in one song and the opening tune “Henry’s Funeral Shoe” builds with a fury as Aled repeats “Don’t let your heart get heavy” before launching into a searing blues guitar lick while Brennig makes you question why the bass guitar was ever invented. His kick and floor tom do the work of two people.
It didn’t take me long to mix Everything’s For Sale into my rotation. This is a great debut from the Welsh duo and I hope that they follow the lead of other two-piece blues acts and start incorporating some fresh ideas in future efforts. There is an abundance of talent here. – HearYa
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If you like raw loud stomping psychedelic guitar driven rock n roll blues then your in for a treat. The raw power of the vocals and the diverse guitar playing dont let you come up for air for the first nine songs with some of best guitar work ive heard in a while from new act. Then theres marys tune the last song on the album is a chilled acoustic song with crisp sound of harmonica added to make this one of the standout and diverse songs on album. – Wall Of Sound
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Is Henry’s Funeral Shoe the Welsh answer to the White Stripes? Or to the Black Keys? How about both at once? The duo certainly plows the same guitar/drum blues duo earth as those acts, but is less pop-oriented than the former and less obsessed with Led Zeppelin than the latter. Aled Clifford is a manly but versatile vocalist whose hero seems to be Steve Marriott, rather than Robert Plant, and he’s a fine slide/boogie guitarist. His brother Brenning keeps the cans a-rockin’ and a-groovin’. With a pronounced bent towards the John Lee Hooker side of the blues fence, the Shoes have an entirely different feel than their more famous brethren, lighter of foot and heavier of tone, as heard in Second Hand Prayer and It’s a Long Way. Mary’s Tune ends the record on a folky and rather sweet note, just to show that the guys can pitch woo as well as make whoopy. – Michael Toland / Sleazegrinder
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With their thick, gooey, swamp stomp sound, I would have guessed this guitar ‘n’ drum twosome was from some uncharted region of the Louisiana bayou. Turns out Henry’s Funeral Shoe are from Wales, which is about as far away from gumbo and gators as you can get. Kudos to the Clifford brothers—Aled (vocals, guitar) and Brennig (backing vocals, drums)—for achieving such an authentic racket. I guess this disproves my theory about the correlation between intense swamp gasses and dense Delta blues-type rock music (…) the guitar growls and jerks about like a crazed mutt tearing apart its first fresh ham hock, lest we forget the drums, which simmer delightfully and add a boisterous flavor to numerous tracks on Everything’s for Sale. If you’ll allow me to continue with the food metaphors, this record is a middle-o’-summer fat back barbeque freak-out that’ll leave you pickin’ your teeth and reaching for the nearest frosty beverage. The following statement may strike you as dubious, but I stand by it: Henry’s Funeral Shoe is quite possibly the best airboat cruisin’ music since Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen.” – James Greene, Jr. / Crawdaddy!
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The songs on Everything’s for sale are sure pure quality and shows us a certain craftsmanship that marks this duo as a standout band. Filled with licks and references to the good old days the album certainly pleases this reviewer. Take for instance “Stranger Dig” a tune that is reminiscent to early Led Zepplin. “A Long Way” might be rooted in the same blues as “Stranger dig” it surely sounds more darker and meaner. “Maria Maria” steels a guitar riff from US rockers Blue Oyster cult to start with but quickly returns to the sound they are used to. “Empty Church” the is the tune that is most appealing to me and also sounds quite commercial if you ask me. “Coming On Through” is where you hear the White Stripes and John Spencer working in a cooperative but the biggest surprise comes after nine songs. Closing down is the acoustic “Mary’s Tune”. Here the atmosphere is completely different and a reference to the folk rock of Bob Dylan is sure in place here. – Mr Blue Boogie / Billybop
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The riffs are huge and compelling; these fellows have a distinct knack for getting a memorable guitar bit into the tracks. The fuzzy slide work on “Don’t Lose the Rhythm” and “Stranger Dig” is catchy and memorable; it’s a classic sound used to excellent effect here. “Stranger Dig” is one of the album’s highlights, because of that guitar work and the varied delivery in Aled’s vocals. On much of the record, that raspy growl is pushed to the max, but on “Stranger Dig” and a few other tracks, we get a subtler approach, which offers some nice diversity. The album stomps through the first nine tracks, rarely pausing to catch its breath, providing tunes that are going to keep your motorcycle boots tapping. The brothers radically alter things with the last track, “Mary’s Tune,” an acoustic ballad that shows that Henry’s Funeral Shoe has more than one gear. The wistful harmonica and brushed cymbals backing vocals devoid of any whiskey-fueled scratchiness tell us that there are some un-plumbed depths here. We’re into this album and excited to see what happens next. – Citizen Dick
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Guitarist-singer Alled Clifford belts with a distinctive howl, and he pumps a fat, sinister tone from his Strat. Meanwhile, brother Brennig pounds the skins with manic muscle, keeping the rhythm locked in a ragged groove. Standouts include the eponymous title track and “Second Hand Prayer,” a blistering, bluesy acknowledgement that sometimes a man just has needs. Henry’s Funeral Shoe still needs to work on developing its own sound, but on this debut they do a pretty convincing job with the ones they’ve borrowed. – Michael Coleman / Your Flesh
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UK band HENRY’S FUNERAL SHOE is playing as if it was still 1969, because their somewhat Stoner Rocksound also contains a lot of influences from the heavy Bluesrock, Soul, R&B and Psychedelic Era of the very late 60s/early 70s. Still, the heavyness of the songs will make them probably a Stoner Rockband. Their CD “Everything’s for sale’ features 10 songs and most of these tunes are groovy guitar orientated, with very Soulful vocalwork, making me think of something like a mix between GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, DANZIG and KYUSS. Not something you hear everyday and I’ll bet this HENRY’S FUNERAL SHOES could be one of the next big things if they have that lucky break, as even fans of WOLFMOTHER might find something of interest here. (Points: 8.0 out of 10) – Sonic Rendezvous
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Never heard of this duo from South Wales before, that’s why I researched a little. One of the first non-US groups on Alive Records but nevertheless a real well-fit. Their first record to present to the world. Henry’s Funeral Shoe delivers us some high energy blues that starts to attract a growing enthusiastic audience across Europe. Groups as The Black Keys and Black Diamond Heavies who have either broken through or are on the merge of doing so have proven the necessity of this formula already.
Henry’s Funeral Shoe don’t intent, however, to be a copy on before mentioned groups. Their sounds familiarises with the genre but differs within in. The first song varies from heavy rock melodies to some nice roots rock riffs. The song Don’t Lose The Rhythm is way more psychedelic blues and Maria Maria, probably the best song of the record, just adds up all associated genres and brews it into a good representation of current high energy blues, or whatever label you would like to give it. Mary’s Tune, the song where this debut ends with is a bit oddly standing out. Acoustic with harmonica; a great peaceful end of a hurricane record – in the good meaning of the word. Alive Records keeps surprising me! – Sedate Booking
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File Under review (The Netherlands) | Hard Rock Cafe (Spain) | Blog Del Cavernicolo (Italy) Punx (Netherlands) | Planet Trash (The Netherlands) | Raw Power Magazine (France) | Dreun (The Netherlands) | Valley Cat Press (UK) |
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The Welsh duo Henry’s Funeral Shoe, featuring Aled Clifford on electric guitar and vocals and his younger brother Brennig on drums, debut with heavy blues-rock originals that drift briefly into psychedelic jamming. Aled’s twanging low strings and Brennig’s heavy kick drum and tom-toms fill up the rhythmic and tonal space made by the lack of a bass player. There are shades of Peter Green in the guitar playing, and the sparse vocals have the rough-and-ready force of guttural blues shouters such as the proto-rock ‘n’ roller Big Joe Turner, the edgy electric bluesmen Johnny Winter, early metal howlers like Paranoid-era Ozzy Osbourne, and growling alley dwellers like Tom Waits. – Hyperbolium
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