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.
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