Stone Axe-2

Music Abuse
2010

It was just a year ago that I was grooving on the sounds of Stone Axe's self-titled album so I was surprised that this one came out so fast. Not that I am complaing in the least, far from it actually. This is a project for Mos Generator frontman Tony Reed and vocalist Dru Brinckerhoff. Many bands over the last decade or so attempt to go back and copy the sound of is those early days of hard rock/metal from the late 60's/early 70's. Many succeed to some extent, but have been able to crank it out with the natural flow of Stone Axe. While the self-titled album was impressive I think they have raised the bar even more with their latest. It's as if all the gaps have been filled and every track is an explosion of old style hard rock. Many of the songs mix influences including Black Sabbath, Cream, Free, Zeppelin, AC/DC and Thin Lizzy. Other tracks channel single bands like "We know it's still rock and roll" is completely 1975-76 era AC/DC. "Those were the golden years" is 100% Thin Lizzy down to every hook and and every ounce of the vocals. Despite or maybe because they bring about such strong interpretations of the bands they loved these songs just overtook my senses instantly. Everything about this album was so immediate that I bonded with it right away. That's probably due to familiarity with the bands they are referencing. Still it's more than that because a lot of credit has to be given to Stone Axe. It's more than just copying sounds because it's also about embodying the spirit of the time that this music originated. That's where this band goes beyond many other acts. There is sincerity to each and every note, beat and word of every track and that's something that can't be learned, but it's just comes from belief in what you are doing. Just a fantastic album that gets better and better with every play and I should since I have probably played it like twenty times in the last few weeks.