What a terrific album, and completely unexpected too.
Chock full of Noo Yawk Attitood and crossed with Americana and top Blues/rock/punk playing, the result is one of the freshest albums I’ve heard in a long while.
The band rip out some stunning rock but the songs are definitely not the typical rock band stuff. For some reason his vocals remind me of Handsome Dick Manitoba (The Dictators), having a really aggressive punch to the way he sings and musically they are closer to the late seventies punk bands and British bands such as Tenpole Tudor and Big Country than Americana although, the opening number on this album ‘All The Understanding’ has a softer tone than the majority of the tracks here.
The band consist of Marlon Hoffman - Guitar, Lead Vocals, Jody Daley - Bass, Vocals, Nick Massie - Lead Guitar, 6-String, Vocals, Gary Ponder - Percussion, Kris Cadle - 12-String Guitar, Mark Grueninger- Drums, John O’Kennedy - Guitar, Sitar guitar, Slide and together they make a mighty sound. Grueninger’s massive drums especially at the core of the music and Nick Massie’s screaming guitar plus Hoffman’s anthemic vocals make the sound of the band quite invigorating.
Hoffman himself has been around since the 60’s, starting his career as a drummer before switching to guitar and then working with artists like Kinky Friedman and later – as Marlon Monroe – with the Clones and The St. Louis Mopes. All of that experience comes through loud and clear and the album is incredibly listenable to although it doesn’t work as a background track, it require your attention.
The whole thing gave me a lot of pleasure with the standout tracks being ‘Share The Night with You’ and ‘When The Pope Comes To Town’ but there isn’t a duffer here – just eight excellent pieces of music.
