The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards (Silver Arrow Records) [Rich Piva]
There is a half dozen or so bands where I went through a serious obsession phase. The Black Crowes are one of them. At one point I had hundreds of Black Crowes live shows that I was tape trading and was at the point where, for example, I could tell you the dates and venues where the band covered Torn And Frayed, for example. I was super active on the message boards and 80% of what I was listening to was Crowes related.
There is a half dozen or so bands where I went through a serious obsession phase. The Black Crowes are one of them. At one point I had hundreds of Black Crowes live shows that I was tape trading and was at the point where, for example, I could tell you the dates and venues where the band covered Torn And Frayed, for example. I was super active on the message boards and 80% of what I was listening to was Crowes related.
After By Your Side, which rules, I became less obsessed, and liked the new material less and less, but I have always remained a huge fan and they still remain one of my favourite bands of all time. So obviously the announcement of a new album is going to get me excited, and Happiness Bastards, their first record of new material in 15 years, does not disappoint. Yeah, I know this is a new lineup, and I also know this is not 1997, but Happiness Bastards is the Crowes best release since By Your Side, by far.
Happiness Bastards to me is a combination of Shake Your Money Maker and By Your Side stylistically, which I am all in for. There is not a weak track in the bunch, Chris’s voice sounds amazing and Rich is as steady as ever with his guitar work. The production fits these guys perfectly, which they have always been able to nail, with the new recording being no exception. Bedside Manners, with its slide and keys and Exile swagger is so great, and there could not have been a better track to kick off a new record after all this time. I always loved the Crowes stuff with the female background vocals, and Happiness Bastards brings it. Especially with Wanting And Waiting, which sounds like a combo of Jealous Again and Kickin’ My Heart Around.
Happiness Bastards to me is a combination of Shake Your Money Maker and By Your Side stylistically, which I am all in for. There is not a weak track in the bunch, Chris’s voice sounds amazing and Rich is as steady as ever with his guitar work. The production fits these guys perfectly, which they have always been able to nail, with the new recording being no exception. Bedside Manners, with its slide and keys and Exile swagger is so great, and there could not have been a better track to kick off a new record after all this time. I always loved the Crowes stuff with the female background vocals, and Happiness Bastards brings it. Especially with Wanting And Waiting, which sounds like a combo of Jealous Again and Kickin’ My Heart Around.
Rich has a bit of fuzz going on with Rats And Clowns which has a filthy NYC vibe to it. Cross Your Fingers has a funky blue thing going on, reminding me of the great Horsehead. Country singer Lainey Wison provides guest vocals on the gospel inspired Wilted Rose that also highlights how great of a vocalist Chris really is, and dig that solo from Rich too. The second half of HB is just as good as the first, with the keys driven, also funky Dirty Cold Sun with Chris doing his best Mick on Miss You imitation perfectly while the Mellow Down Easy vibes shine on the very bluesy Bleed Us Dry.
Flesh Wound is a super fun and upbeat track with a very cool piano driven middle interlude that I have zero comparisons for in their past discography. More fun and funky closes us out with Follow The Moon that could have been a By Your Side outtake, and the acoustic, Byrds-like Kindred Friend, which could be Chris singing to his brother.
As a huge Crowes fan, I am not sure I could have asked for anything more than what we got with Happiness Bastards. It is everything a fan could want from a band after 15 years away. The songs are all great, the record sounds amazing, the band is super tight, and Chris and Rich are doing what they do best. Let’s not get crazy and say this is better than the big four Crowes record but I could get behind a solid fifth for a band I have loved since their inception. 9/10
Avralize – Freaks (Arising Empire) [Zak Skane]
The opening track Lotus introduces the album with some 90’s sounding arpeggiators before we are greeted with some nifty Animals As Leaders influenced technical riffage, before we sonically get blasted when the track bombs down to half time groovy chugs that consist with sharp harmonics performed with industrial precision.
As a huge Crowes fan, I am not sure I could have asked for anything more than what we got with Happiness Bastards. It is everything a fan could want from a band after 15 years away. The songs are all great, the record sounds amazing, the band is super tight, and Chris and Rich are doing what they do best. Let’s not get crazy and say this is better than the big four Crowes record but I could get behind a solid fifth for a band I have loved since their inception. 9/10
Avralize – Freaks (Arising Empire) [Zak Skane]
The opening track Lotus introduces the album with some 90’s sounding arpeggiators before we are greeted with some nifty Animals As Leaders influenced technical riffage, before we sonically get blasted when the track bombs down to half time groovy chugs that consist with sharp harmonics performed with industrial precision.
Following this the modern metal choruses that capture some Linkin Park elements such as their electronic layers along with harsh vocal style hooks. In relation to the vocals I’m getting early Northlane vibes with them staying harsh but laced passion and serenity. The following track Higher ebbs and flows from being skull crushingly heavy to effectively catchy with it’s Meshuggah and Thall styled bendy riffage to then transcending to Don Broco mixed with Issues inspired funky pop with some slick sounding bass runs, up beat synths and vocal melodies.
Bright contains some classic nu metal elements with it’s twinkling xylophone melodies and bouncy grooves mixed with some low tuned guitar riffage to bring in the modern edge. To continue the Nu Metal momentum, Stab By Stab brings in some 90’s inspired electronic breakbeat drum grooves that reminisce from Slipknots classic track Eyeless which is followed by jerky effected guitar samples before slapped in the face with some harmonic laced riffs, dirty breakdowns and some venom spitting lyrics.
To open up the second half of this album Canvas return us back to their poppy influences that sound more groovier and poppy than before where you have to guess which sounds more catchy, the pre-choruses or the actual choruses? The vocals go full melodic singing in the verses and the choruses along with layers synths and even saxophones, which also get their little solo in this track.
Overdose also continues the mainstream rock vibes with verses sung over warm padded pianos, and electronic percussive samples. The track also features some brief appearances of acoustic guitars and soulful guitar solos before we are plunged back into hell with a bawl rumbling breakdowns. To close this album Freaks takes back into familiar territory with it’s meat and potatoes low modern metal riffs, mosh worthy breakdowns with glimpses of Sleep Token styled synths melodies that occur halfway through the track.
Through this 8 track debut, Avralize have clearly made it known that they can run with the greats, from its bruising heavy hits like Lotus and Stab By Stab to the pop inspired songs like Higher, and Canvas they have really set the bar on what this band can achieve for future releases. For fans of old school Northlane, In Hearts Wake, Bring Me The Horizon and Don Broco. 9/10
Hashtronaut – No Return (Blues Funeral Recordings) [Paul Scoble]
An area of Slow and Heavy that has been kicking out some really great stuff over the last few years is Stoner Doom / Rock. The scene was started by Black Sabbath when they recorded Sweet Leaf, a Doom song about cannabis. It took another twenty years for the rest of the world to catch up, as the Stoner Scene didn’t really start until the early nineties with bands like Sleep, Kyuss, Bongzilla and Fu Manchu and on these shores bands like Acrimony.
Through this 8 track debut, Avralize have clearly made it known that they can run with the greats, from its bruising heavy hits like Lotus and Stab By Stab to the pop inspired songs like Higher, and Canvas they have really set the bar on what this band can achieve for future releases. For fans of old school Northlane, In Hearts Wake, Bring Me The Horizon and Don Broco. 9/10
Hashtronaut – No Return (Blues Funeral Recordings) [Paul Scoble]
An area of Slow and Heavy that has been kicking out some really great stuff over the last few years is Stoner Doom / Rock. The scene was started by Black Sabbath when they recorded Sweet Leaf, a Doom song about cannabis. It took another twenty years for the rest of the world to catch up, as the Stoner Scene didn’t really start until the early nineties with bands like Sleep, Kyuss, Bongzilla and Fu Manchu and on these shores bands like Acrimony.
The stoner scene has always attracted people with a relaxed attitude towards life and band names can sometimes be humorous, one such band is Hashtronaut. The band based in Denver Colorado, have been putting out material since 2021, when their first single was released. Since then the band have released another single in 2022, and the Ep Tidal Waves Of Ashen Skies the same year, No Return is the band’s first album. The band is made up of Danial Smith on Bass and Vocals, Michael Honiotes on Drums and Kellen McInerney on Guitars, Robb Park on Stunt Guitar. When the album was recorded all drums were performed by Eric Garcia.
The album kicks off with the appropriately titled song Rip Wizard which opens with Refer Madness type samples before a huge riff that has a tempo that is relaxed but purposeful thunders in. The song is a great piece of Stoner rock with really good Clean Vocals, it’s simple but very effective and also boasts a very good melody lead at the end. Next up comes the track Cough It Up a heavier track than the one that preceded it. The song is slow and very heavy, with Harsh Vocals and quite an aggressive feel. The song also has some Refer Madness Samples and a great Wah Wah infused solo. Cough It Up does speed up at the end, keeping the riff the same and changing the tempo.
Carcinogen is another super heavy song, it’s also slow with a tempo that, despite its slow pace, feels completely unstoppable and relentless, a bit like a runaway Bulldozer. The song has clean Vocals and reminds me a little of Electric Wizard. The song has a minimal, dark and brooding interlude before the super heavy returns to slowly batter the audience. After two super heavy tracks, Dead Cloud is a return to the softer Stoner Rock sound we met at the beginning of the album. The song opens with a soft acoustic intro that reminded me of the intro to Sleeping In The Fire by WASP, before a big mid-paced stoner riff comes in and the song drives off in a purposeful, yet relaxed feel, the clean Vocals are great and the main song I found reminiscent of Acrimony.
Next comes the second shortest track on the album Hex, coming in at a brief minute and a half. The track is big and heavy and has a real Grunge feel to it, particularly in the Vocals which in places reminded me of Alice In Chains. The wonderfully titled Lung Ruiner mixes super heavy sludgy material with minimalist dark and brooding material. The juxtaposition works brilliantly and the track ends up feeling disturbing and fretful.
Dweller is dark and very Bass heavy, again we get a very relentless feel to the music with a really great Vocals performance. The song builds in intensity as it approaches the end.
Marsquake is another super heavy track, it’s mid-paced and purposeful, but is also so heavy, it’s like watching planets waltz of a herd of elephants dance the Watusi. The album comes to an end with the very appropriately titled Blast Off. Blast Off is a thirty second blast of Thrash Metal. I don’t know why an album of Sludge and stoner rock has a thirty second thrash song at the end, but it’s a great piece of thrash, so I’m here for it, great track!
No Return is a great piece of Stoner Rock / Sludge. The album has several different styles, but they all sound like the same band, there a continuity of feel that makes everything work together. I also think this is doubly impressive as this is the bands debut album, and it sounds like an album made by a much more experienced band. When I first listened to this album I thought the band had outgrown their Jokey Stoner name, managing to outgrow a joke name usually takes a lot longer than one album. Great album, highly recommended. 8/10
Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol - Big Dumb Riffs (Permanent Teeth) [Joe Guatieri]
Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol are a self-proclaimed Doom Wop trio hailing from Austin, Texas. They have been very prominent in their output having released a few EPs and studio albums since their formation in 2017.
Diving into Big Dumb Riffs one of the first things that caught my ear was track two, 1-800-EAT-SHIT. The song is as ridiculous as the title describes with a vocalist that sounds like John Garcia doing a Fred Durst impression whilst desperately needing a shit. Combining that with a big fuzzed out guitar riff and the all important farty bass sound.
Track four, Peanut Butter Snack Sticks is by far the heaviest song here. It has the most overdriven and distorted instrumentation possible but does the opposite of what you would expect from it. The overdubbed guitars are funny to me, sounding like a poor excuse for a vocal hook, less Beach Boys catchiness, more Maroon 5 forcefulness. Maybe the most defining track of the album’s title, Big Dumb Riffs indeed.
The final and my favourite track on the album is In A Jar. The longest song here sounds to me as if Tool were approaching a Shoegaze number but Manyard didn’t care about the lyrics, only having soft croon, barely being heard. An enjoyable and well performed song with a wink and a nod to the victorious end to an album cliché. It would be an exciting prospect if Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol did more songs on their next album like this, longer with more room to play and experiment with.
Overall, Big Dumb Riffs is just a fun album to put you in a good mood. If it’s made you laugh then that’s the job done and I can respect it because of that. It knowingly takes stereotypes in Rock and Metal music and puts them all in a mixing pot, just to see what will happen. It’s here for a good time, not a long one. 6/10
The album kicks off with the appropriately titled song Rip Wizard which opens with Refer Madness type samples before a huge riff that has a tempo that is relaxed but purposeful thunders in. The song is a great piece of Stoner rock with really good Clean Vocals, it’s simple but very effective and also boasts a very good melody lead at the end. Next up comes the track Cough It Up a heavier track than the one that preceded it. The song is slow and very heavy, with Harsh Vocals and quite an aggressive feel. The song also has some Refer Madness Samples and a great Wah Wah infused solo. Cough It Up does speed up at the end, keeping the riff the same and changing the tempo.
Carcinogen is another super heavy song, it’s also slow with a tempo that, despite its slow pace, feels completely unstoppable and relentless, a bit like a runaway Bulldozer. The song has clean Vocals and reminds me a little of Electric Wizard. The song has a minimal, dark and brooding interlude before the super heavy returns to slowly batter the audience. After two super heavy tracks, Dead Cloud is a return to the softer Stoner Rock sound we met at the beginning of the album. The song opens with a soft acoustic intro that reminded me of the intro to Sleeping In The Fire by WASP, before a big mid-paced stoner riff comes in and the song drives off in a purposeful, yet relaxed feel, the clean Vocals are great and the main song I found reminiscent of Acrimony.
Next comes the second shortest track on the album Hex, coming in at a brief minute and a half. The track is big and heavy and has a real Grunge feel to it, particularly in the Vocals which in places reminded me of Alice In Chains. The wonderfully titled Lung Ruiner mixes super heavy sludgy material with minimalist dark and brooding material. The juxtaposition works brilliantly and the track ends up feeling disturbing and fretful.
Dweller is dark and very Bass heavy, again we get a very relentless feel to the music with a really great Vocals performance. The song builds in intensity as it approaches the end.
Marsquake is another super heavy track, it’s mid-paced and purposeful, but is also so heavy, it’s like watching planets waltz of a herd of elephants dance the Watusi. The album comes to an end with the very appropriately titled Blast Off. Blast Off is a thirty second blast of Thrash Metal. I don’t know why an album of Sludge and stoner rock has a thirty second thrash song at the end, but it’s a great piece of thrash, so I’m here for it, great track!
No Return is a great piece of Stoner Rock / Sludge. The album has several different styles, but they all sound like the same band, there a continuity of feel that makes everything work together. I also think this is doubly impressive as this is the bands debut album, and it sounds like an album made by a much more experienced band. When I first listened to this album I thought the band had outgrown their Jokey Stoner name, managing to outgrow a joke name usually takes a lot longer than one album. Great album, highly recommended. 8/10
Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol - Big Dumb Riffs (Permanent Teeth) [Joe Guatieri]
Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol are a self-proclaimed Doom Wop trio hailing from Austin, Texas. They have been very prominent in their output having released a few EPs and studio albums since their formation in 2017.
Diving into Big Dumb Riffs one of the first things that caught my ear was track two, 1-800-EAT-SHIT. The song is as ridiculous as the title describes with a vocalist that sounds like John Garcia doing a Fred Durst impression whilst desperately needing a shit. Combining that with a big fuzzed out guitar riff and the all important farty bass sound.
Track four, Peanut Butter Snack Sticks is by far the heaviest song here. It has the most overdriven and distorted instrumentation possible but does the opposite of what you would expect from it. The overdubbed guitars are funny to me, sounding like a poor excuse for a vocal hook, less Beach Boys catchiness, more Maroon 5 forcefulness. Maybe the most defining track of the album’s title, Big Dumb Riffs indeed.
The final and my favourite track on the album is In A Jar. The longest song here sounds to me as if Tool were approaching a Shoegaze number but Manyard didn’t care about the lyrics, only having soft croon, barely being heard. An enjoyable and well performed song with a wink and a nod to the victorious end to an album cliché. It would be an exciting prospect if Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol did more songs on their next album like this, longer with more room to play and experiment with.
Overall, Big Dumb Riffs is just a fun album to put you in a good mood. If it’s made you laugh then that’s the job done and I can respect it because of that. It knowingly takes stereotypes in Rock and Metal music and puts them all in a mixing pot, just to see what will happen. It’s here for a good time, not a long one. 6/10