BOULDER
Reaped in Half
(Tee Pee)
THE MUSHROOM RIVER BAND
Simsalabim
(MeteorCity)
NASHVILLE PUSSY
Say Something Nasty
(Artemis)
ORANGE GOBLIN
Coup De Grace
(Rise Above)
The world of rock & roll needs its innovators. Like anything else, the music will never evolve, never continue to reach untold heights, without visionaries constantly coloring outside the lines, crossing the borders, repositioning the edges. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix...whoever the geniuses may be (or whoever you think they may be), they are to be commended, if not treasured, and any serious music collection can't do without them. Horizon expansion, so critical to a fuller artistic life, is impossible without them.
Sometimes, though, you want your rock & roll horizons to stay contracted. Sometimes you want something that stays within familiar bounds, that wants to explore the ground within the fence more thoroughly. In other words, sometimes you just wanna rock. You want to bang your head, play air guitar and jump around the room screaming incoherently. Fortunately, despite the reports you may have heard about the death of rock & roll, there are plenty of bands out there more than willing to accommodate your nastier impulses. These folks came up listening to everything from Little Richard and the MC5 to the Sex Pistols and Guns 'n' Roses. To the guys and gals in today's rock scene, there's no difference between punk and metal, garage rock and arena rock, as long as it rocks, man! Everything they've ever heard that's loud and ugly becomes grist for the musical mill. If there's a patron saint for these folks, it's Lemmy from Motörhead, a man indelibly cool to everyone and a band accepted by headbangers of every persuasion. Likewise, the following acts, from locations spread out over the American South and Midwest, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, will appeal to anyone with a yen for hard-edged rock & roll that worships at the altar of faster and louder.
Comprised of four regular dudes in Michael Schencker Group tees and wielding Gibson Flying V's, Boulder comes rampaging out of suburban Ohio with its third album Reaped in Half. Though consisting of an Act I and Act II, there's no concept involved in this record, unless it's a loose theme of corruption and brutality. Everything in Boulder's world is seen through one of three lenses: sex ("Ripe and Innocent," "Yellow Fever," "Arrest Me"), rock & roll ("Back to the Show") and violence (everything else). In the case of the opening bombshell "Krank It Up," it's some nefarious combination of the above. As with all snotnosed underground metalheads, the songwriters (no one in the group is indentified by name) calculate the lyrics for good-natured offense, but unless you feel like reading the lyric sheet, you'd never know, since the vocalist sings everything in a high-pitched, bowel-ripping scream. Besides, it's all about the riffs; these guys work those Flying V's overtime recycling various classic rock, metal and boogie licks, while enthusiastically trading solos and dual leads like the bastard spawn of Iron Maiden and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Despite the tasteless humor, there's a sense of unease to this album; this is catharsis born as much from desperation as boredom. Listening to Reaped in Half, one gets the sense that these guys would be killing themselves (or each other) if they weren't so involved in rocking ass.
Sweden's Mushroom River Band may consist of what looks like a bunch of longhaired hippies (and how about that name?), but the savage energy behind the ten songs on their second album Simsalabim belies any peaceful intentions. Guitarist Anders Linusson uses his thickly-distorted tone and tight rhythm/lead work to pound the excrement out of a series of catchy power rock riffs. Bassist Sasso and drummer Chris Rockström ride the rhythm like it was a wild bull after too many expressos, never showing off any fancy moves, just letting the thing have its head. Singer Spice, late of the Spiritual Beggars, simply attacks the lyrics with near-death metal ferocity. His dragged-down-the-gravel-driveway growl shakes lines like "I hate you/You hate me/I hate you/More than myself" back and forth like a starving dog does its prey, yet somehow manages to stay with the vocal melody. He's got something most singers of this stripe don't: genuine soul. That doesn't stop him from truly feral performances on the runaway train rocker "Make It Happen," the Sabbathesque breakdown "Proud of Being Cool" or the desperate-and-proud-of-it title track, but it also means he's able to deliver lines like "I say shine on/And let the magic lead our fate (from "My Vote is Blank") without sounding foolish. Whether taking on bad relationships ("Change It") or weightier societal ills ("The Big Sick Machine"), the band is always focused and powerful, never letting up on the adrenalin pedal for an instant. Might + melody + murderous intent = one hell of a rock & roll record.
Atlanta's Nashville Pussy presents its usual mix of whiskey-bent and hellbound rock 'n' sleaze on its third album Say Something Nasty. Firebreathing Amazon bassist Corey Parks is gone, replaced by KatieLynn Campbell, but otherwise nothing's changed in the Pussy camp. The riffs are simple, the volume is louder than the deity of your choice and the songs aren't just dumb, they're damn dumb. Lest one think of these as criticisms, however, keep in mind that all these qualify as good things. No one expects or wants Nashville Pussy to start penning treatises on man's humanity to man while experimenting with electronica. Nope, we want this band to stay ugly and nasty, cranking out grimy album rock riffs and shit-covered boogie licks while high on some nefarious combination of gasoline and pork rinds. Dirtbag frontman Blaine Carthwright scribbles a dozen sex/drugs/hate-filled anthems and shotgun-weds them to guitarist Ruyter Suys' to-the-bone guitar stylings. A list of highlights (lowlights?) would have to include "You Give Drugs a Bad Name," the dixie-fried "Here's To Your Destruction" and the immortal "Keep On Fuckin'," not to mention the nominee for best song title of the last decade: "Gonna Hitchhike Down to Cincinnati and Kick the Shit Out of Your Drunk Daddy." A pair of covers demonstrates the band's twin inspirational aesthetic: the Circle Jerks' "Beat Me Senseless" and Rick Derringer's "Rock N Roll Hootchie Coo," both treated with the same degree of greasy irreverence. While not quite the masterpiece (if such a word even applies) that was the previous album High As Hell, Say Something Nasty more than meets the daily requirement of Pussy.
Coup De Grace, the fourth album from London's Orange Goblin, brings heavy rock back to the hell-house, where the quintet thinks it belongs. ("Listen to the following tales of pure mind-melting HORROR!" proclaims the devilish gentleman on the CD booklet.) The Goblin has always found horror films and EC comics (check out the album graphics) to be a deep well of inspiration, and some of the songs on this record are no exception. "Monkey Panic" describes a rampage by a giant ape, while "Red Web" follows the homicidal urge flowing through the veins of man. "Jesus Beater" (featuring Unida/Kyuss singer John Garcia) and "Rage of Angels" pledge tongue-in-cheek allegiance to a dark deity, while several tracks, including "Whiskey Leech," "Stinkin' O Gin" and "Made of Rats" (another duet with Garcia), wallow/revel in alcoholism. The band also pays tribute to a raging boxer ("Born With Big Hands") and covers the Misfits ("We Bite"), a key lyrical inspiration. It's all in the name of "Getting High on the Bad Times." Fortunately this libretto is carried by undiluted hard rock; the psychedelic trappings of albums past is absent in the metal-loving guitars of Chris Turner and Joe Hoare and the hoarse shout of giant frontman Ben Ward. Indeed, Ward's vocal charisma is such that he gives even the cheesiest lyric at least a dollop of menace. Add his charm to the indelible riffs of "Your World Will Hate This," the group's veritable theme song, and you've got an irresistible rock & roll nightmare.
For all the claims that rock & roll is dead, there's almost an embarrassment of riches to choose from for the discerning fan. Boulder, the Mushroom River Band, Nashville Pussy and Orange Goblin will add value to your portfolio and glitter to your humdrum existence. Michael Toland
For fans of:
Boulder: Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, the Dwarves
The Mushroom River Band: Cathedral, Spirit Caravan, Metallica
Nashville Pussy: Ted Nugent, the Bad Wizard, AC/DC
Orange Goblin: Fireball Ministry, Trouble, Budgie
Copyright © 2002 High Bias
