Skunk – Doubleblind



When a band calls themselves Skunk there are two possibilities. They could be fans of the stinky little black and white animals, or maybe Pepe Le Pew cartoons. They might also be fans of a certain green, leafy substance that can sometimes have a skunky aroma. Given that these guys have songs with titles like “Wizard Bong” and “Black Hash”, I'm inclined to go with the second option.

If you want to know what they sound like, these guys are 70's all the way. Find a time machine to send this album back to 1972 and it would fit in perfectly. Listening to this release, my hair got longer, my sideburns got wider, my jeans turned into bell bottoms, and when I walked out into my living room my mom was sitting there making macrame plant hangers. No joke.

While they definitely have that vibe going for them in their music, they don't just slavishly copy the sounds of the seventies. They have their own thing going for them and they are true to the music. Their songs are definitely originals as they invoke the music of decades gone past. This is not an easy thing to do so these guys deserve some kudos for their efforts.

This album is made up of four tracks from their killer demo, “Heavy Rock From Elder Times”, and four new tracks. If you have not heard their demo, go find it on Bandcamp. Then buy this one, and you'll have yourself some great tunes to rock out to. “Forest Nymph” kicks things off with a riff and a groove that will get your head bobbing in no time. This song is like having one of those old Bigfoot gas pedals and just giving it a good stomp so you can peel out of the 7-11 parking lot. “Mountain Child” is an ode to a foxy earth mama, and features some nice cowbell that is reminiscent of, well, Mountain. Its got a nice slinky groove that will get every ass shaking within a ten mile radius of wherever you play this.

Every one of the eight tracks on this album have some redeeming quality about them, and there are not a lot of releases these days about which I can make that comment. As noted, the album starts off with a bang and just keeps building on that all the way to the end. The penultimate song, “Devil Weed”, shows that these guys can take a little lighter touch and play with some nice swing as well. This release shows that Skunk can write some great music and lyrics and they are worth watching. A band could build some good momentum with a release like this and I hope they get the attention they deserve. My advice? Turn on that lava lamp, get the black light shining on those posters, and fire up a bowl full of this Skunk-y goodness.

-ODIN



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