Shotgun Sawyer - Bury the Hatchet (Very Good Hardrock US 2019)

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Shotgun Sawyer return with their blissfully heavy new album – Bury The Hatchet. The album is a mix of Hard Rock, Stoner Rock, Blues and Psych Rock with a pissed off attitude to match. What makes Shotgun Sawyer stand out is their undeniable thirst to have FUN with their music. However you know from this listening to his album, the guys know how to handle themselves as their music has quite a volatile attitude in places especially on the first few songs with Ain’t Tryin’ To Go Down Slow, (Let Me) Take You Home and Backwoods Bear.

The album has elements of “Americana” style rock within it’s DNA and Shotgun Sawyer don’t shy away from that fact. The music is very raw but at least it’s honest and the guys know how to write and play a mean loud riff. The band do sound like early era All Them Witches in parts of the album and it’s a style of Blues Rock I’m a big fan of.

The production is excellent and the songs contained on the album sound superb. The vocals and music are pitch-perfect with the band proving they’re quite adapt at switching musical genres on certain songs on the album such as: You Got To Run, Son Of The Morning, Love You Right and When The Sun Breaks.

Maybe the album does run out of steam towards the end. However that hasn’t stopped Shotgun Sawyer paying homage to their musical heroes of the legendary 70s Hard Rock scene and putting their own spin on the standard Stoner/Hard Rock sound.

If you’re a fan of ZZ-Top and Led Zeppelin then Shotgun Sawyer have all bases covered with this album and they still have a few tricks of their own to impress people with. This is not only another excellent release from Shotgun Sawyer but also from Ripple Music who are proving why they are one of the best independent Hard Rock labels within the scene today.

Overall, Bury The Hatchet is superbly entertaining album and one that packs an almighty punch.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Two years on from their debut album, California’s Shotgun Sawyer return for Round Two.  Now signed to Californian label Ripple Music, this has seen them attack the studio brimming with confidence and the result is raucous affair which gets your attention from the opening riff and doesn’t let up until silence arrives at the end of Track 9. The song writing is great and the trio of Brett Sanders on bass, David Lee on drums and Dylan Jarman on guitar/vocals all deliver their parts in equal measure.

Now, back to that opening riff – the riff to ‘Ain’t Tryin’ To Go Down Slow’ is a hybrid mix of  ‘Stranglehold’ and  ‘Whole Lotta Love’ – it’s a thing of beauty and if there is a Riff Of The Year award, consider it won. The rest of the song doesn’t disappoint either as the rhythm section batter the song into submission behind Jarman’s impassioned vocal and screaming solo.

‘(Let Me) Take You Home’ follows and it’s a slower number that chugs along in a bluesy way, stops for a breather and then serves up a tasty instrumental passage before returning to the original riff.

‘Backwoods Bear’ sees the acoustic guitar come out of its case. The song is underpinned by an acoustic slide riff and solo and it is probably the closest this album gets to the Blues. It’s a nice contrast to the opening salvo it follows and shows that Shotgun Sawyer isn’t just about playing loud.

However ‘You Got To Run’ can only be described as loud. Released as a single last year, it works even better as part of an album and is a full on rock song pure and simple.

‘Son Of The Morning’ is the longest song here (just) and it starts with a lengthy instrumental passage before the vocals kick in I think this has the potential to be a big track in their live set as it build to be their own ‘Bridge Of Sighs’ or ‘Dazed & Confused’ – it gives the guys the chance to stretch out and show their musical abilities and could be a real showcase number.

Talking of 70’s influences, ‘Hombre’ follows and it is the best song ZZ Top never wrote with a similar riff and shuffle to the mighty ‘La Grange’. Hats off to Sanders & Lee on this one as they lock into the groove whilst Jarman sings of his woman troubles.

The hum of an amplifier greets ‘Love You Right’ and it’s a loud slice of blues rock that will appeal to Bonamassa and Rival Sons fans alike. Whether Shotgun Sawyer reaches the commercial level of those two remains to be seen but musically that’s the territory they work in, so there is no reason why not.

‘When The Sun Breaks’ is next – musically has a Led Zeppelin influence all over it and to my ears it’s their take on ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’. There’s no attempt to mimic Plant’s vocals style though (a good thing), so it still sounds like a Shotgun Sawyer song though the blues solo is one Jimmy Page would be pleased with – that’s meant as a compliment by the way. It’s another song that could be a live showcase number as its finesse provides a nice contrast to the power of the faster songs.

Whilst I love my fast rockers, I think ‘Son Of The Morning’ and ‘When The Sun Breaks’ show the true depth of the Band’s abilities, though closer ‘Shallow Grave’ ups the pace again and features some great slide guitar before slowing things back down as it plays out to the end.

Shotgun Sawyer played a lengthy European tour in 2018 which missed the UK and they are hopefully going to finally make it here in 2020. I think their live performances will be the key to a UK following and if they get the opportunity who knows what they might achieve. In the meantime they have waved away those ‘difficult second album’ worries to deliver a fantastic set that deserves to do well.

01. Ain't Tryin' to Go Down Slow 03:16
02. (Let Me) Take You Home 04:44
03. Backwoods Bear 03:29
04. You Got to Run 04:55
05. Son of The Morning 05:31
06. Hombre 03:44
07. Love You Right 05:15
08. When the Sun Breaks 05:30
09. Shallow Grave 04:24

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The Insect Trust - Selftitled (American Hippie-Rock US 1968)

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The Insect Trust was an American based rock band that formed in New York in 1967.

The members of the band were Nancy Jeffries on vocals, Bill Barth on guitar, Luke Faust, formerly of the Holy Modal Rounders, on guitar, banjo, fiddle, and harmonica, Trevor Koehler on saxophone, and Robert Palmer (1945–1997) on clarinet and alto saxophone. 

Elvin Jones and Bernard Purdie both drummed with the group at times. Bill Falwell on bass and trumpet and Warren Gardner on trumpet and clarinet were part of the band by the time they recorded their second album.

According to The New York Times, the band took its name from William S. Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, detailing a race of giant insects bent on world domination. However, according to Bill Barth, the name came from the poetry journal Insect Trust Gazette, published by William Levy. Levy took the name from Burroughs, Warren Gardner then gave it to the band.

One of the more interesting one-shot bands in rock & roll, the Insect Trust's most famous member was writer/critic/ethnomusicologist Robert Palmer, who played alto sax and clarinet. Less famous, but still a notable member, was guitarist/songwriter Luke Faust, who went on to add creative input for the Holy Modal Rounders' string of wonderful early- to mid-'70s records. 

The Insect Trust released two albums, their self-titled 1968 debut on Capitol, and their second and final LP, Hoboken Saturday Night. Along with the loose-limbed music, Hoboken Saturday Night features musical contributions by heavy hitters (no pun intended) such as drummers Elvin Jones and Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, guitarist Hugh McCracken, and novelist Thomas Pynchon. 

The music ranges from surreal folk-rock (à la the Holy Modal Rounders and Fugs), to Booker T.-like pop-soul, to flat-out free jazz. Decades after its release, Hoboken Saturday Night sounds a bit dated, but its charm is irresistible, especially when Nancy Jefferies sings and the band cranks up its raucous onslaught of reeds and percussion. Never intended to be a traditional pop act, the Insect Trust should be best remembered for extending rock's boundaries and taking the genre to a much hipper level without resorting to a lot of banal technique. Good luck locating their records.

Back in the '60s, most white blues fans trying to play the music took the approach of struggling to sound as serious and authentic as possible, and a big part of the charm of the Insect Trust's debut album is that, by accident or design, they went in an entirely different direction. 

While the Insect Trust were clearly and affectionately influenced by classic blues and folk, they were also eager to mess around with it, and Robert Palmer and Trevor Koehler's horns and woodwinds often throw this music into a loopy, atonal, and acid-infused direction while the loose, slightly rickety sound of Bill Barth and Luke Faust's guitars and banjos honors the styles found on vintage 78s just as their rock-oriented chops keep the results from sounding as if they spent much time actually learning the original riffs. 

Given the loose but insistent backporch funk of this music -- perhaps held in place by guest musicians Bernard Purdie, Hugh McCracken, and Chuck Rainey -- the sweet tone of Nancy Jeffries' vocals seems a bit out of place, but she never seems less than committed, and she gives "World War I Song" and "Declaration of Independence" a full-bodied reading that fits their meaning, if they don't sound especially "bluesy." 

And the final two cuts, "Mountain Song" and "Going Home," take off into a never-never land of pastoral avant-garde whimsy that exists in a world all its own. The Insect Trust refined their worldview on their second, last, and finest album, 1970's Hoboken Saturday Night, but their debut has more than its fair share of lovely moments and is an engaging example of roots music fans letting their freak flag fly with righteous joy.

The Band:
• Bill Barth - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Knife Guitar, Bottleneck Guitar,       Swiss Warbler, Percussion.
• Bob Palmer - Alto Sac, Alto & Soprano Recorders, Clarinet, Percussion.
• Trevor Koehler - Baritone Sax, Piccolo, Sewer Drum, Thumb Piano, Upright       Bass.
• Nancy Jeffries - Vocal Percussion.
• Luke Faust - Banjo, Banjo Guitar, Vocals, Percussion.
• (Special Thanks: "Steve Dubuff - Conga Drums, other Percussion, & Electric         Nail Biting." Electric Bass is also present)

01. The Skin Game   04:07
02. Miss Fun City   05:04
03. World War I Song   03:18
04. Special Rider Blues   07:45
05. Foggy River Bridge Fly   01:07
06. Been Here and Gone so Soon   03:29
07. Declaration of Independence   02:30
08. Walking on Nails   03:12
09. Brighter Than Day   02:31
10. Mountain Song   02:49
11. Going Home   05:10

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