Rock and Roll Baby
I could write half this review just going on about the bands name, but that wouldn't be doing this six track EP any justice. One day I may write a feature about band names but today is not that day, tomorrow won't be either. I'll let you into a secret here, did you know that the Swedish government has a secret underground training base that is churning out bands to take over the world with inventive, sharp as a laser nail metal and there's nothing the rest of the world can do about it. No really, it's true, haven't you noticed that everything is coming from Sweden these days, if they fail the training they have to come and work in Ikea's lighting department, taking out their bitterness by making sure you get the wrong bulbs for whatever light fitting you've bought.
Oh yeah the CD! Mustasch have stripped down their music. In these days of faster, louder, more extreme and cutting edge technological studio shenanigans it's more refreshing than I would have imagined to come across a band just playing good old metal edged rock and roll. It's like going back in time to the seventies and getting a different take on Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
Singer Ralf Gyllenhammar has a great rock and roll voice sliding from clear as a bell melodic tunefulness to rough and threatening power. He reminds me quite a lot of Ian Astbury, singer with 'The Cult' and his vocal style suits this smoky back room metal perfectly. There's some nice guitar work on this album with riffs so dirty Daily Sport readers wouldn't pick them up. They have that Motorhead quality that speaks volumes about the people that wrote them, you can imagine them passing round a bottle of Jack Daniel's and just letting them out.
On the production front, the sound could be a little better but the style of the music actually lends itself to less than perfect sound as it bludgeons its way out of your speakers. I played this in my car and after a couple of listens was singing it at the top of my voice on the M6, so if you saw a guy singing loudly and playing drums on the steering wheel recently that was me.
I haven't said anything about the songs yet have I? I'm too busy trying to get across that half of the appeal of this record is the feeling and atmosphere it generates, and isn't music about emotion at the end of the day? I'm pretty sure it is and I would love to see this band live.
This opens up with 'Nailed to pain' an upbeat track that will have you singing the chorus and which is then followed immediately by a slow moody number with the aforementioned filthy riffs, I feel so dirty! It storms from one track to another and is over far too quickly, there is a video of title track Parasite which I didn't watch until I had this band sorted in my head because sometimes you can be completely influenced by the visuals, the video is of them playing in a smoky, dirty club full of tattooed babes and just confirmed everything I thought. This means they have pulled off the difficult task of getting over exactly what they're about through their music. Go Mussy.
Mustasch are working on a full length album as I write and that thing just has to come to me. Check them out if you like good solid rock with killer riffs and a down and dirty attitude.