Revolution Mother – Rollin’ With Tha Mutha

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A second over-brief outing from the Long Beach heavy punk rockers front by veteran professional skater Mike Vallely follows Glory Bound with a slightly heavier sound, and plenty of groove. Defiant album highlight MOFO, dark riffing The Snake and dirty southern Brand New Sin-style heaviness of Hit List, Ride The Sky and Runaway Train make up for the few weak links, like Time Machine and Night Ride, which lack the groove of the better tracks. But as with everything else on the main body of this album, these moments are fast and fleeting. In actual fact, although their perceived style and attitude is one of fast-paced punk-influenced tracks, they really shine on the slower stuff. The plodding riff of Crossroader backing fuzzy solos and a Sabbath-esque groove, for example, is one of the finest moments on the disc. Then there’s the album closer, The Rider, which finally kicks off after six minutes of intensely irritating silence. A slow, Monster Magnet-ish psychedelic trip of a song which lasts another eight-and-a-half minutes with entirely spoken lyrics and lots more wailing, distorted solos. A couple more like this instead of the blandest of the fast songs and this would have been a perfect score.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, Revolution Mother