Chicago based psychedelic blues band Razorhouse go in at the deep end on their new album, Scolds Bridle. Inspired by the stressful circumstances during the pandemic the band's songwriter Mark Panick did some serious soul searching. Named after a particularly nasty instrument of punishment, it is a collection of bleak songs about humanity failing capability to deal with crises and impending doom.
There are always a couple of crooks who seize the opportunity to make a fast buck out of it. He had a front row seat when it happened to one of his family members and some of his friends who got scammed, which inspired to write the stand-out track Erase Your Face. He doesn't shout, but points his fingers at the data grabbing businesses who don't give a fuck about their users when the shit hits the fan. The sole cover - Leonard Cohen's overlooked gem Nevermind - sounds even more foreboding than the original.
With three guitar players in the band they have a plethora of possibilties to explore textures and riffs, most of them rooted in the vein of the Seventies, with a side dish of Nineties college rock thrown in for good measure. Scolds Bridle is an ambitious album that will make the listener think twice about things that are taken for granted. All righteous lyrical worries aside, it is also a damn fine example of superb musicianship, made by a couple of guys who know their instruments inside out.
Razorhouse:
Mark Panick: vocals, guitar, keyboards
Curtis Ruptash: bass, synths (BassKase, Peabody & Sherman)
David Suycott: drums, synths (Robert Pollard, Stabbing Westward, Machines of Loving Grace)
Mark Coutts; guitar (Sport of Kings, Chac Mool)
Jeff Harris: guitar (Joy Thieves, The Human Element)
Scolds Bridle is released via Underwear Factory Toy Records (vinyl, CD, digital).
Tracks:- Life Tears (The Strange)
- Erase Your Face
- Floatin' Down The River
- The Good Loser
- Scolds Bridle
- Morrows Day
- Nevermind
- Dawn Of The Slippery
- My Other War
- 05/23 Montrose Saloon, Chicago, IL
- TBA - Benefit for Refugee Community Connection
Gameboard
The gatefold vinyl has a playable gameboard on the inside, inspired by the band's connection to the Mayan Popol Vuh. The rules - 21 steps! - are on their website.
HCTF review of Codex Tres Lingua.
No comments:
Post a Comment