Mothership - ST (album review)

Mothership is everybody's favorite new hard rock band, and why not?  Melody never sounded this tough, the five minute song never had such full sleeve tattooed arms.  Mothership is one of the unequivocal success stories of underground rock n roll to emerge in the past year or so.  After building a large groundswell of support from an indie released demo and self-releasing their album last May, the band was signed by Ripple Music in the fall of last year and have since released their first music video and latched onto some major shows, kicking up dust on stage with none other than Nashville Pussy, Wo Fat and Kvelertak to name a few.  They then kicked off a rad cross country tour with Gypsy Hawk.  And they did it all on their own backs, through the power of the shredding riff and more energy than a nuclear power plant.

The album opens with a tasty five minute instrumental, "Hallucination" that first sits and ponders the mysteries of life, then gets up and smashes them to a fine powder.  These are some bad ass motherfuckers, man.  Seventies grooves and riffs with full arm sleeve tattoos and beer guts unleashed on flapping leather wings, this band won't be denied.

Hard rockin' funk characterizes every millisecond of this album, imprinted into the DNA of each song, moving from strong moment to strong moment in an ever tightening grip of berserker frenzy.  Even when the band explores the quieter moments between gigantic pillar-like riffs, they do so with an ear towards the rhythmic rather than the atmospheric.  The atmosphere on this album is made up of exhaust fumes, beer breath and the occasional jet of projectile vomit.  All the while, the lyrics pry the listener's mind open with images of "Cosmic Rain" and "Lunar Master"s.  I make a big deal of the tough sound this band pumps out but it's never in an aggro spirit.  The vocal tone is warm, inviting and welcoming to all who want to join the party and that's just fine with me, you just have to watch for flying barstools in the back is all.

From the anthemic "City Nights" to the Texas Chainsaw hymn of "Angel of Death" the band keeps the pace  high and the playing hot and heavy.  Of course, that's not to say the band doesn't have its more thoughtful side.  Spaced out song intros and metaphysical lyrics such as "Nothing that you see / Is true reality" prove the point.  Mothership is a well rounded band, the thinking man's band of tough guys, as apt to sit around the backyard campfire solving the world's problems over a case of beer as they are to crash the party and bring along all their gnarly long haired friends.

Talk about leaving on a high note.  I'm telling you, the song that closes the album, "Lunar Master", is just about one of the best songs I've ever heard from any decade, period.  A manic, all-stops-pulled-out floor tom beat down from drummer Judge Smith really kicks this puppy into orbit..  The first half of the song features a seventies feel to the riff with an eighties galloping rhythm it's a driving force of nature, a juggernaut set to tape.  The second half is the aftermath of destruction, almost as if the charging behemoth of the riff were to have looked over its shoulder and pondered the destruction that lay in its wake, not remorseful, just ... pondering it.  What makes this album so special is that this song is only a slight cut above the others.

I imagine most of you out there have already heard this album, got it one way or another and have since put both of your socks back on and sobered up just a bit, but for those who haven't, to the ones who came late to the party, or who somehow let this one escape their grasp.  Repent! ... no, really, pick it up if you're into doing yourself some good.  There are no longer any excuses to put this off because you do not want to find yourself staring out the window longingly at age 85 thinking about the 'Mothership' that got away.

Highlights include: "Lunar Master" and "Cosmic Rain"

Rating: 5/5

Total Run Time: 45:11

Kells Juett - Guitars / vocals
Kyle Juett - Bass / vocals
Judge Smith - Drums

From: Dallas, Texas

Genre: Hard Rock, Doom, Psychedelic, Early Metal

Reminds me of: Crag Dweller, Five Horse Johnson, Neon Warship, Wo Fat

Release Date: February 12, 2013 (via Ripple Music)

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Crash a party on the other side of the galaxy, then crack some brews and solve that world's problems only to hop in the mothership and do it all over again.

Better Reviews:
Soda Shop & redux
Broken Beard
Sea of Tranquility
The Ripple Effect
The Sleeping Shaman
Heavy Planet

Mothership Obelisk interview

Mothership facebook

GET IT HERE (physical copy)