THE third track on Dave Arcari's latest album, Tell Me, Baby, indicates what he and his band are capable of live: ragged, raw, irresistible blues, powered by a simple, nagging riff.

It reminds you, too, of the electrifying joy of the blues, even at their simplest. Add in Arcari's whisky-cracked growl and it's a potent mix.

The publicity material for the album suggests the 14 tracks here are indebted to punk, rockabilly, trash country and pre-war delta blues, and if it's difficult to say where one ends and the other begins – that's no bad thing. The Glasgow-based slide guitarist and his band, the Helsinki Hellraisers – Juuso Haapasalo on bass, Honey Aaltonen on percussion – have a sound that really is all their own.

Of the 14 cuts here, 11 are Arcari originals. He has always chosen his cover versions carefully, and the three here – Robert Johnson's Traveling Riverside Blues and Preachin' Blues, and Bukka White's Jitterbug Blues – get fresh readings. Of the originals, the best are the slower-paced Still Friends, Third Time Lucky and, of course, Tell Me, Baby. There's nothing flash or grandstanding here, just authentic blues.