On disc: Alabama Thunderpussy

 
- Fulton Hill
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
- Rise Again
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Rise Again

(Relapse Rec. - 1998/2004)



 
 

 

The band was founded back in 1996 in Richmond, Virginia. It took awhile to find the right singer in person of Johnny Throckmorton. With a 6-track demo they got the attention of Man's Ruin - a cult label. Due to the fact that the band is constantly writing new songs they were able to record their debut album in 1997 with producer Mark Miley at Montana Studio and Rise Again was released in 1998. Now the album is re-released with 2 previously unreleased tracks, liner notes and a new package in a remastered version. The album starts with Falling Behind, a track which shows their musical direction - slow, heavy kick-ass rock! These days this is called Stoner Rock, but at the time it was just heavy rock. The quintet presents various heavy rock songs, a variety many might not expect from this genre. The voice of Johnny Throckmorton remind me a little bit of Lemmy - at least partly. But not all songs are slow, Lord's Prayer is a faster track, fast for a stoner rock band. Here Throckmorton almost growls! The guitars are slow, groovy and partly screaming. An interesting combination. In their biography this is called low-end rumble... Just to get faster again. The track When Mercury Drops you find twice on the album. One version is the debut album version, the other a demo version. This shows how the song developed. The demo version has some special charm, it's rougher, rawer. The track Alto Vista starts with spoken words - in Spanish - which leads into a slow groover. Here mainly the music is doing the talking. And the few lines Throckmorton sings are more intense then the lyrics of the other tracks.
If you listen to Monster Magnet, Down, Orange Goblin or the Spiritual Beggars, this one should be in your collection. Fans of Heavy Rock / Stoner Rock should check this one out. The album is one of the early stoner rock releases. Quite interesting.
My favorites are: Victory Through Defeat, Folk Lore and When Mercury Drops.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Fulton Hill

(Relapse Rec. - 2004)



 
 

 

The Alabama Thunderpussy's are presenting their new album and also a new singer - Johnny Weils. The album starts slowly with twin guitar harmonies - almost acoustic - then they start with their down-tunes, distorted sounds - Such Is Life. This instrumental shows the variety of their sound. With R.R.C.C. they present the kick-ass rock they are known for. New singer Johnny Weils sounds more aggressive and it seems that Mr. Weils would also fit into some melodic death metal band. But you can hear that this is what he wants to do. He feels the music. At Three Stars they combine heavy rock with Southern rock influences - like a heavy version of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet or Blackfoot. Definitely a highlight, even if not a typical track. The following Bear Baiting is representing the quintet better, but still has elements not every Stoner Rock band uses. This make the sound of Alabama Thunderpussy outstanding and more interesting. With Alone Again the band recorded a powerful ballad in the tradition of the hard rock bands of the 80's. Compared to their debut Rise Again the band got more mature and is more experimental, but always hard rock / heavy rock! For fans of their early days there are still some real heavy rockers like Sociopath Shitlist. For vinyl fans there is a double vinyl version available which has a bonus track - Seekers.
Personally I think that Alabama Thunderpussy have the skills to make it big and they seem to be more down to Earth then their genre colleagues Monster Magnet. So all fans of Monster Magnet, Corrosion Of Conformity, Spiritual Beggars and other genre bands should check this one out. Well done!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt





 
 
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