New Records that Rock

Mastodon, Pasadena Napalm Division, Supersuckers, and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears keep the sound fresh and the energy alive.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!
(Los Highway/UMG, 2009)

Ain’t nothing like an old soul.  Even with the kids today and their “Screamo” bands and “Hot Topic” fashions, there remains a truly refreshing flashback to how it should be done, and it comes howling out of the Cap City in the form of Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. After years of steady gigging, this group is clearly ready to throw down and make asses shake and rafters rattle. This is especially clear on their full-length debut on Lost Highway Records, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!, a record featuring the expertise of Spoon’s Jim Eno behind the boards. These youngbloods are primed, and the full-bodied sound of this rock, blues, & boogie big band hits like a triple shot of bourbon on an empty stomach. 

Far more polished and with a bigger sound than previous EPs, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! takes its first shot with “Gunpowder,” a rump-shaker resplendent with rich horn accents that match up with mean vocal howling by Lewis. It’s a bit reminiscent of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms” on Orange, but in two minutes, it’s over -- just like that.  But another train’s a-comin’ in “Sugarfoot,” a mean motherscratcher of a party anthem that more than showcases the sum of Black Joe & The Honeybears’ parts.  Specifically noteworthy are Bill Stevenson’s walking bass line and Ian Varley’s clavinet, as they offer a taste of weight and fuzz tone to counter the sharp horn playing of David McKnight and crew. 

Settling down a bit, the midsection of Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! features tunes like “Big Booty Woman” and “I’m Broke” that bounce along with the swagger of R. L. Burnside, Booker T. Jones, and James Brown, only to give way to the fury of the simply titled “Boogie” and the straight-shooting rocker “Get Yo Shit,” a companion piece of sorts to “Bitch, I Love You.”

Speaking of follow-ups, BJL & The ’bears do what few bands can (or should) do:  A sequel to a previous song.  But “Please, Pt. Two,” the disc’s closer, is about as legit as its predecessor, and channels more of The Animals than the Stax-fueled aura of the first “Please.”  A dark, morose tone also creeps across in “Master Sold My Baby,” a Southern dirge of sorts that reminds the listener that things aren’t all fun and games, and that an undeniable sense of hardship and loss truly spawned the blues.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears open for the New York Dolls June 5 at Emo's.


Supersuckers
Get It Together
(Mid-Fi, 2008)

Not too many bands can be self-congratulatory and get away with it.  Jon Spencer espouses that he’s “The number one blues singer in the country,” and Tenacious D stakes claim as “The Greatest Band In The World.”  While both the aforementioned acts’ braggadocio is somewhat tongue-in cheek, their enthusiasm and confidence cannot be denied.  It’s a simple philosophy that if you believe in yourself, others will follow.  The Supersuckers definitely fit into this mold, albeit minus so much shtick.  With testimonials to their credit such as, “If you don’t like The Supersuckers, you don’t like rock ‘n’ roll,” by luminary Lemmy Kilmister, the Arizona-cum-Seattle outfit has cemented longevity and legitimacy, and celebrates it in full, shameless glory with their 20th anniversary release, Get It Together.

Though no longer angry young men, Eddie Spaghetti, Rontrose Heathman, and Dan “Thunder” Bolton still aren’t quite ready to rock the Geritol as cantankerous old codgers either, and they’ve somewhat split the difference as the years have rolled on.  Whereas albums like The Evil Powers Of Rock And Roll captured lightning in a bottle and the seminal Must’ve Been High showcased their country honk, Get It Together punches you in the face with fists of fury out of the gate, and then settles in to work the body with jabs as the album unfolds.

The Supersuckers always throw down on a lead-off track, and “What It Takes” is no exception.  However, Spaghetti favors a more baritone swagger than his usual gravelly howl to set a bit of a vocal dichotomy on this LP.  Although Motörhead and AC/DC are probably the biggest overall influences on this ‘lil ol’ band from Seattle, the first half of Get It Together offers a sound more reminiscent of early Guns ‘N’ Roses and Thin Lizzy.

Lyrical themes about the quirks of aging, rearing kids, and generally maintaining one’s cool have more or less been simmering in Spaghetti’s colander for the past few ‘suckers records, and he’s gotten his point across using a cooler-than-you kind of self-satire that proves that there is another option to either burning out or fading away.  Gleeful vulgarity spouts forth from the chest-puffing “I’m A Fucking Genius,” while the sweet, country-pop flavored combo of “Sunset On A Sunday” and “Breaking Honey’s Heart” make Get It Together one of the band’s more well-rounded efforts.

The Supersuckers' Get It Together is also available in a two-disc package that includes a live DVD from the House Of Blues, Anaheim, CA, September 19, 2007.


Mastodon
Crack The Skye
(Relapse, 2009)

It’s a bit hard to believe that almost two full generations have elapsed since the birth of Heavy Metal.  The bastard son of a bastard son, this weightiest of music has seen peaks (The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, the thrash explosion of the early-to-mid-1980s) and valleys (Nü-Metal -- just terrible).  And as we near the second decade of the 21st Century, another summit appears within reach, if not having already been attained.

Bands like Lamb Of God, Opeth, and The Black Dahlia Murder have astutely crafted modern masterpieces that echo back to the glory days of Iron Maiden and Slayer.  One band, however, seems to have leapt to the head of the pack like a rabid dog with an agenda:  Mastodon.  This Atlanta outfit hasn’t missed one step whatsoever since their inception in early 2000.  From their debut EP (Lifeblood) to their epic, conceptual works of near-genius (Leviathan, Remission),  Mastodon has incorporated old-school speed and crunch, dense layers of vocals, and labyrinthine guitar work that proves without a doubt that metal can be intelligent.

The momentum that Mastodon has accumulated shows no sign of waning with the release of Crack The Skye, one mean, complex son-of-a-gun of a record.  As with their previous efforts, the Paul A. Romano cover art alone indicates the potential, power and perspicacity awaiting the listener once the play button is pressed.  And once you commit yourself to this LP, you better be strapped in like the guy in that old Maxell commercial, ’cuz this monster will definitely blow you away.

Ominous is an understatement in describing the opening strains of “Oblivion,” an aptly-titled opener which quickly changes time to furiously chug into the verse of the song.  Two of the main influences clear throughout Mastodon’s works are the thrashing riffs of old-school Metallica, mixed with the complexity and progressive nature of Rush, with perhaps a dash of Queens Of The Stone Age and their predecessor, Kyuss.

This beast of a band even fearlessly includes a heavy metal banjo intro to “Divinations,” one of the albums singles/videos.  With “Divinations” and the title track, “Crack the Skye,” the band’s sound weaves in and out through some seriously intense musical mazes constructed by drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor, lead guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, and rhythm guitarist Bill Kelliher.  Haunting, moody guitars lilt over the passages of “Quintessence,” as the song almost gives way to the most legitimate pop-punk chorus you’ll ever hear. 

Most of Mastodon’s music is challenging (to say the least), but when they decide to perform an opus, look out.  The four-part composition “The Czar” may be Mastodon’s most adventurous undertaking, akin to Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” or the Rush classic “2112 Overture.”  Vocal trade-offs are favored on this track instead of multi-layered verses and choruses.  Strangely enough, “Escape,” the second movement of “The Czar,” may be one of the more direct numbers the band has written, despite it being nestled into a veritable musical novella.  This song could easily stand alone, or contribute to a greater whole.  But if you thought a ten-minute mammoth jam would be the longest song on Crack The Skye, think again.

The album’s closer, “The Last Baron” begins with an eerie, plodding set-up that culminates in a fiery denouement to rival even the classic eponymous “Black Sabbath” or Metallica’s 1984 instrumental, “The Call Of Ktulu,” proving there may not be anything more dangerous than an educated metalhead.  If past albums were Mastodon’s undergraduate work, Crack The Skye is their master’s degree -- we only need anticipate their doctoral thesis.

Pasadena Napalm Division
Demo

The term “supergroup” gets thrown around way too much, and often the music lacks what it promises. No way in hell does that apply to Pasadena Napalm Division. Composed of underground legends from D.R.I. and Dead Horse, PND is poised to once again conquer the crossover/thrash world and teach the kids a thing or three.

Kurt Brecht, former lead throat for Bay Area/Houston mainstays Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, has united with Texas metal heroes Ronnie Guyote, Greg Martin, and Scott Sevall from Dead Horse to deliver on -- not defy -- expectations. There is a sense of defiance here, but it lies in the wordplay of tracks like “Spell It Out” and the lead-off “Speaking In Tongues.”

On this five-track EP, classic shredding riffs explode from Martin’s and Sevall’s amps to complement Brecht who has one of the heaviestvoices in metal/crossover punk history. Kurt’s ability to craft his speed of delivery has been nothing short of impeccable over the years, and his somewhat snide sense of humor hasn’t lost any edge with songs like “Failure,” which hearkens back to the Dealing With It-era tunes like “Yes Ma’am” and “The Explorer.” The fact that the Dead Horse camp provides an extra guitar to Brecht’s thick utterances gives an added weight to this project, as D.R.I.’s guitar work was mainly done only by Spike Cassidy over their tenure. There is no decline in quality or style on this first record, and Pasadena Napalm Division’s full-length album should be nothing short of a post-modern tour de force.

Kevin Schooley hosts a late night radio program on KAOS Radio (www.kaosradioaustin.org).

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