Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials

Leading with his most fearsome punch, Chicago guitarist Lil’ Ed Williams and his longtime electric-blues band open this no-frills album by channeling The Who and Motown’s Eddie Holland — the straightforward, half-slurred version of “Leaving Here” is all bludgeoning power. So is the beautifully lunkheaded, nonsensical original “Icicles in My Meatloaf,” which closes with maniacal laughter; Billy Joe Shaver’s tear-in-the-beer country classic “Tramp on Your Street” is an equally spirited change of pace. Lil’ Ed dutifully shows off his fast fingers and covers his slide hero Elmore James (“You Know You’re Wrong”) and his late uncle, J.B. Hutto (“That’s the Truth”), but thankfully his muse is in the gutter more than the museum.