Monster Truck - Furiosity (2013)

Monster Truck - Furiosity (2013)





INFO:

3-4 years ago I was browsing through some bands that were playing a local music festival when I came across this gem of a band called Monster Truck. I thought it was an awesome name so I gave them a listen and was impressed with the music so I decided to add them to my list of bands to see. A very solid and tight live show and I was hooked. They had two EPs up for free download on their site which I grabbed without hesitation. Since then I've been waiting for a full album from these Hamilton Ontario rockers. They recorded an album at Sound City in LA and decided that the album wasn't good enough so they started over in Canada.

Enough of the history lesson, it has been worth the wait. "Furiosity" is one of the best rock albums that I have heard in a long time, almost every song could stand on its own as a single.

The album starts off with "Old Train," "The Lion," and "Power to the People" which are all great driving tracks that get the listener hooked. The fourth track is "Sweet Mountain River" which is the first single off the album and features an intro that is not present in the radio version and adds a great buildup to one of my favourite songs on this album. "Psychics" and "Oh Lord" keep the momentum going up to "To the Sun," which was a surprising track. At 7:24 it is easily the longest song that these guys have done and was a pleasant surprise. "Boogie" wakes you up if you've drifted off into a trance during the previous track and the great riffs carry on with "Undercover Love," "The Giant," and "Call it a Spade." The album ends off with "My Love is True," a great closing track ending with some choir like vocals which give you a sense of finality that the album is indeed done. Now time to hit repeat. // 9

Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics are well tailored to the music. The choruses will have you singing along and the verses are just as strong.

"Sweet mountain river, come take me away. Way out west of the prairies, is where I'm gonna stay. Sweet mountain river, I'm gonna make you my home. Because you fill me with that sweet, sweet joy and I never wanna leave you alone."

John Harvey is an amazing vocalist, great power and a perfect voice for the type of music that these guys play. What you get on the album is what you get live. Jeremy, Steven, and Brandon all do a solid job on the backing vocals.

Turns out that Monster Truck is a Canadian rock quartet hailing from Hamilton, Ontario. Having recently won a 2013 Juno Award for "Breakthrough Group of the Year", Monster Truck released Furiosity as the group’s first long play record. If I had not known that these Canucks were alive today, I would have guessed that they were tour mates with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Jon Harvey’s voice, and bass playing, has a gravely, Southern twang to it, maybe comparable to Brent Smith from Shinedown. This paired with Jeremy Widerman’s guitar tone and affinity to pentatonic tonality creates a rugged, hard rock sound, which is bound to make you feel manly.

The opening track "Old Train" literally starts out like a steam locomotive barreling down the tracks... with the sound of an actual train sample, followed by an electric, short riff based pulse. It’s highly addictive. In my mind’s eye, my skinny jeans morphed into thick, dusty denim and my iPod into a pack of Marlboros. Needless to say, my cleanly shaven chest had substantial stubble by the time I came to the end of this album.

The call and response form of Furiosity's verses is reminiscent of blues. Harvey often sings a short phrase like, "It’s just a matter of time," takes a short breath and continues, "...til you get yours, and I get mine," followed by an 8 notes pattern, during which you’ll find yourself nodding your head to the rhythm, thinking, "Yah damn right! Just a matter of time... Power to the People." The way that the guitar and bass so often played in unison made me think of Audioslave’s self-titled album. So, to someone who has not yet heard this band, I would venture to call them a "groove-based, hard rock band."

Compared to other more mainstream rock bands today, Furiosity might find itself in the "retro" category, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what kind of listener you are. "Sweet Mountain River," for example, is my favorite track on the album. Yes, it sounds like a modern production of "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain, but it has a certain persona that comes with it, which is what I think makes this band appealing: Road House! I would like to hear in the future that the solos develop more. Keeping in mind that when I think Canadian rock, the first thing that comes to mind is Protest the Hero, where the guitar chops are plenty. Also, I’d like to hear more Brandon Bliss, not only because that name is amazing but because the keys are almost subtle, holding chords to fill out the sonic space when Widerman wants to wank a little since they only have one guitar player. Maybe throw an organ solo or keyboard leads on some of this jaunt!


Track Listing:

01. Old Train
02. The Lion
03. Power of the People
04. Sweet Mountain River
05. Psychics
06. Oh Lord
07. For The Sun
08. Boogie
09. Undercover Love
10. The Giant
11. Call It The Spade
12. My Love Is True
Run Time: 45:42

Genre: Rock
Subgenre: Blues Rock / Southern Rock
Bitrate: 320 k
Size: 106.41 MB