Bobaflex – Tales From Dirt Town (2007, TVT Records)
- Sellout
- Born Again
- That Old Speed
- Satisfied
- Need A Drink
- Savior
- Be With You
- I Still Believe
- Goodbye
- One Bad Day
- Paranoid
- Home
Band Lineup:
Marty McCoy – Vocals, Guitars
Shaun McCoy – Vocals, Guitars
Jerod Mankin – Vocals, Bass
Mike Steele – Guitars
Tommy Johnson – Drums
Producer: Russ T. Cobb (Sevendust)
Total Time – 45:00
Bobaflex official website
Bobaflex @ MySpace
TVT Records
I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much when I put this disc in. Bobaflex looked like a band that I wouldn’t be interested in but, when I sat back and hit PLAY, I was immeadiately assaulted with pummelling riffs, in your face vocals, double bass drums, and screams! The band definitely got my attention.
I would describe this West Virginian quintet as a hybrid of Black Label Society, Sevendust, Disturbed, Godsmack, Alice In Chains, hardcore and punk all rolled into one. It’s hard to deny the band’s more modern vibe, something I have a hard time getting into, but the way the music is delivered is extremely intense. There is power and aggression mixed with melody, it’s not all new generation Metal but something unique.
Opening track ‘Sellout’ immeadiately kicks the album into high gear with a thrashy riff and delivery but then it slows down slightly come the chorus. It’s a fast aggressive song that you can immeadiately draw the comparisons with Sevendust. ‘Born Again’ continues the immeadiate pummelling but settles into a less frantic Metal groove. It’s still a fast song and the main riff gets the fists pumping.
‘That Old Speed’ continues Bobaflex’s assault on the ears but does manage to slow down for the chorus, which is very melodic. The drumming on this song is almost frantic, trying to keep up with the guitars, cymbals crashing everywhere. I like the gritty vocal, I can envision veins popping out of necks. I was surprised by ‘Satisfied’. The song starts out very slow and haunting and turns into a melodic mid-tempo, almost ballad-ish at times. The vocal has that bite to it but it becomes very melodic when the background vocals come in, this song is very Alice In Chains like to my ears. So far, this is my favorite song of the record.
Black Label tendencies come out in ‘Need A Drink’ but what a better song to do it in? This is another hard charging track that I can see throngs of concertgoers hurling themselves around to. The guitars and drums just drive the song and I’m waiting for the singer’s throat to fall out. The vocal is just powerful. After getting smacked by ‘Need A Drink’, ‘Savior’ starts out acoustic with a very mellow vocal that kicks to a mid-tempo melodic crusher. This is definitely a Rock radio track and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a single at some point.
I hear a Nickelback/Puddle Of Mudd influence on ‘Be With You’, for me that’s not good as I can’t stand either band. It’s mostly in the guitar lines because the vocal sets the song, and band, from these media darlings. It’s not a bad song, just average, like something that’s already on the radio. A quiet acoustic and percussion arrangement opens ‘I Still Believe’ that reminds me of Alice In Chains Unplugged but that quickly fades as the bridge and chorus follow with a heavy guitar and a drum sound that sounds similar to Roger Taylor’s ‘We Will Rock You’. I find that I enjoy the quieter moments on this song. ‘Goodbye’ returns to the carnage of the previous headstompers but I feel like I’ve heard it before although I do like the guitar drone and the layered guitar squeal. There is a trend building here with a quiet, or softer, line or two and then the song kicks back in. ‘Goodbye’ has it, so does ‘I Still Believe’ and ‘Savior’.
‘One Bad Day’ has a bad ass guitar riff and a chanting chorus that drives the song but there are a few of the “quiet” interludes again. Just a line or two but everything that makes the song powerful is taken out. In this case, it makes the song a bit manic and leans a bit towards the BLS side of things. ‘Paranoid’ is mid-tempo and strong but I’m not feeling it, sounds to much like Nickelback again. That may appeal to fans of more mainstream Rock but I’m more Traditional Metal in my tastes. The guitar tone is very good and the vocal is intense.
The first proper single off TALES FROM DIRT TOWN is ‘Home’. Pretty ballsy for a band to make their first single the last song on the album, most of the time it’s right up front. I’m a sucker for acoustic guitars and they are right here at the beginning of the song and the vocal is not as aggressive as previous songs, it’s more melodic. There’s a grand/epic quality to the music, you can hear the guitar layers, you can feel the emotion. It’s simple, clean, and well done…..it will appeal to a wide range of Rock fans.
Bottom Line:
Like I mentioned at the beginning, I wasn’t expecting much from this album. You get these new bands, no matter the genre, and all the do is copy each other. There is only a few original ideas and the rest is all copycat. What I like is that Bobaflex takes the current styles and adds an aggresion, a power, that you don’t hear from the current top dogs of Rock radio. The band uses it’s influences but still creates their own identity. Overall, a solid album and I am definitely going to check out the band’s previous work. Favorite songs here: ‘Home’, ‘Sellout’, ‘Satisfied’, and ‘Savior’.
Reissue Report: Johnny Crash unreleased 2nd album, Unfinished Business, to be released by Suncity Records
Posted: October 31, 2007 in Metal News & Commentary, Reissue ReportTags: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Johnny Crash, Metal, Music, Reissue Report
From Suncity Records:
Breaking News!!!
Suncity Records are very happy to announce we have snagged a deal with L.A. based Hard Rock group, Johnny Crash.
I think it would be fair to say the Johnny Crash are Suncity’s biggest signing to date. When I say biggest, Johnny Crash were signed to WTG/CBS Records in the early 90′s. Subsequently releasing their debut album entitled Neighbourhood Threat in 1990.
It only took Johnny Crash a mere couple of months gigging on the L.A. circuit before landing the deal with WTG/CBS Records. The first single off Neighbourhood Threat – ‘Hey Kid’ saw the band shoot their first music video and in turn, earned regular playback on MTV. On the back of regular play of the ‘Hey Kid’ video, Johnny Crash managed to pick up some major tours with the likes of Pretty Maids, Bonham and rock giants Motley Crue.
The Johnny Crash story begins all the way back in 1978 when Christopher Stewart (Rhythm Guitar) met August Worchell (Lead Guitar) at reform school in North California. A drummer back then, Chris, August and Faster Pussycat’s Eric Stacy played blues covers in a band called Champagne. Champagne included their school principal on vocals which they claim was the only way they’d get out to play is if he was with them. Chris later played with August in Mandy Lion’s World War III and in Neighbourhood Threat with Danny Stag and Johnny B Frank (subsequently in Kingdom Come). August brought in an old buddy Andy Rodgers (Bass) and Chris met Vicki James Wright (Vocals) through Tracii Guns after Vicki auditioned for LA Guns.
From a large family in Bradford, Yorkshire in North England, Vicki got into rock ‘n’ roll to “to piss people off”, to get back at the people who said he couldn’t do it. He did it and found out he liked it. After recording 2 albums with British rockers Tokyo Blade, he moved to L.A. in December of ’85. Leaving England for the bright lights of Los Angeles. After finding his feet in the city of angels, two and a half years on, Vicki finally met Chris and the rest is history.
Stephen ‘Punkee’ Adamo (Drums) was born in Brooklyn and raised in Long Island and Poughside, NY. Moving to L.A. via Miami, FL in 1987 Steve met Chris and joined up with Johnny Crash after previously playing with another under-rated glam band Rock City Angels.
That’s where Suncity Records steps in. Like most Hard Rock bands in the transition period, Johnny Crash recorded a second unreleased album, this time without lead guitarist August. Instead featuring future Guns ‘N’ Roses members Matt Sorum (Drums) and Dizzy Reed (Guitar). It was heavily rumored after the recording of the second album that the real reason that it was never released was due to threats from Axel Rose. Apparently Axel told the guys that he would take legal action if Dizzy and Matt were used on anything other then the upcoming Guns ‘N’ Roses album. That very album had remained stored away collecting dust until now. Suncity Records will be releasing the 2nd unreleased album in its entirety that will be fittingly called ‘Unfinished Business’. I would expect Unfinished Business to be released before the year is out.
Johnny Crash simply disappeared after being dropped from WTG/CBS Records. In 1992, the band’s name was in the news again when Andy Rodgers tragically died of a heroin overdose. Post Johnny Crash saw August resurfaced shortly in American Heartbreak and go on to created a very successful tattoo ink company called Skin Candy.
As normal, featured below is a signature attitude driven, whiskey fuel rocker. Introducing ‘Ditch The Bitch’, the first single off the upcoming full length CD Unfinished Business.
Sample clip: Ditch The Bitch