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By: Dennis Cook
Cuddlin' is swell but sometimes you need it rough – hair knotted in your lover's hands, teeth marks under your disheveled clothes, a sideways smile as your head swims in whiskey and pheromones. Some rock tosses us down and gives us what we might be afraid to ask for out loud. Black Stone Cherry is this kind of band - oceans of crazy satisfying guitar, drums kicking you in the breadbasket, bass diggin' through your pockets and shaking you by the ankles. BSC don't ask for permission. They take you with curled lip confidence and just the right amount of Southern moxie.
Kentucky's BSC has the energy of vintage Anthrax, the bite of harder Black Crowes and the melodic rush of Dio. Singer-guitarist Chris Robertson can muster modern metal's throaty gurgle but has more in common with Ronnie Van Zandt and Tom Jones than say Metallica. He's backed by one of the toughest, tightest bands in hard rock – Ben Wells (guitar, electric sitar, vox), John Fred Young (drums, vox) and Jon Lawhon (bass, vox).
They've got the chutzpah to open this debut with a chorus like, "The rain wizard wash our hands, bring magic to our lands." They sell the line like young Sabbath, utter rock 'n' roll conviction ringing out. "Maybe Someday" comes off like .38 Special pumped up on Red Bull and good reefer, and "Crosstown Woman" could be Molly Hatchet jamming with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The vocoder-inflected "Shooting Star" is a crushing, wind-in-your-hair anthem, and their truckin' take on The Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things" stands up against classic versions by Gary Moore, Jeff Beck and Nazareth. In fact, if AOR-radio wasn't a gutless, slavish corporate tool this cover would blow up speakers from coast-to-coast.
When they ease off on "Hell and High Water" and "Tired of the Rain" you sense there's some monster ballads and girl odes waiting in the wings. "Hell and High Water" has the hooky, effervescent chug of primo Cheap Trick and shows there's more to BSC than fist pumpin' boy rock. On "Rain" it's guest B3 organist Reece Wynans who makes the sucker skip, and the boys show more than a little aptitude with classic pop.
Like any great one-night stand, BSC leaves you in the dawn light, grinning and hoping they kept your phone number. You know you'll be keeping theirs.
JamBase | Kentucky
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