Here we have eight long tracks of sludgy material that's been rather ineffectively recorded by the generally not-so-good-a-producer Steve Austin. It doesn't sound that bad, but there are enough minor problems with the production to create a problem. The vocals generally sound strong, and I love the gritty texture of the guitar distortion, but the bass somehow tends to disappear, and the drum tones are way off. They're not too rigid, they just have a flimsy sort of undercurrent happening, rather than the warm, natural density that they need. The end result is a mix that's full of separation - lacking the forceful cohesion that it needs for these slow to moderately paced tracks to show their true selves. For the most part this is straightforward sludgy rock, somewhat akin to something like Alabama Thunderpussy, but without all of the blatant southern rock influences. Those influences are present, just not so obviously... granted "Face Down Riverbed Blues" does start out with harmonica! The vocals range from crazy over the top distorted screams to monotone singing with some nice harmonizing at times, and sometimes they spice up the music with clean guitars, bluesy melodic lead breaks, wah, etc. They do tend to pull off the longer and repetitive tracks nicely, but I still think the lengths are excessive, and shorter, more rocked out pieces like "Ceramic Bulldog" always stand out right away. The layout's 50/50. The outer packaging is all done in black, white, and red with consistent imagery and type, and then they go and ruin it with a stupid photo of the band getting high alongside vibrantly colored psychedelic panels of silly Photoshop artwork or whatever. And they slap the lyrics over top of all the crap, thus making it look like a ridiculously unprofessional mess. The lyrics tend to sort of repeat certain words numerous times in any give song or passage, which has its ups and downs. I can live with the bulk of the content, though it's nothing special. "What I control is not my own. What I control is not my own. It's one lie, I hide behind. Just one lie that I'll hide behind. One little white lie that I'll hide behind. Escape the lie come lie with me and die in this hole..." I don't know... with some fine-tuning this band could probably be really fucking good, but the little things are stacking up against them here. The core of what they're doing is strong, they just need more focus and a slightly more professional approach.
[Root Sucker/Black Locust]
Running time - 53:53, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Ceramic Bulldog]
Ichabod - http://www.ichabodrocks.com
