By John Sturm
Mudweiser's second full length release, Angel Lust, comes soaked with the swamps of New Orleans, the whiskey of Alabama and the blues of Mississippi. Which is pretty bloody spectacular considering they hail from Montpellier, France.
There is a lot to like about the music on offer here from the meaty riff machine that is 'Bloody Hands' to the slide guitar lamentations of 'Black Bird'. And a warning to bass players, tissues at the ready for the godly tones in 'Rumble Love', it'll make you want to do naughty things.
It's hard not to want to draw comparisons to Queens of the Stone Age when listening to Angel Lust, but that would be a disservice to Mudweiser. Whilst there are undoubtedly QOTSA-like vibes to 'Chuch A Luck' and 'Back Road' (not necessarily a bad thing) there are more moments of Black Sabbath meets Corrosion of Conformity greatness to savour, particularly in 'Dead Point' which oozes out of the speakers like a snake with it's Iommi-esque riffs proudly displayed for all to see.
Mid-album we hit the jam-fest that is 'Swimming On The Bottom' which gets a large amount of kudos from me for simply reminding me of being a teen and not being able to see through a cloud of... "jazz cigarettes" (I'm a grown up now you see so am unable to do such things any more). So fair warning, if you're not a fan of jamming, skip the last 3/4 minutes of this track. It is also interesting that Mudweiser chose this song to jam on rather than during the more invitingly instrumental 'Foreplay' which is evocative of the instrumental sections in Pink Floyd classic 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', perhaps showing a restraint that is to be admired: less is sometimes indeed more.
Speaking of bongs (ham-fisted segue, thank you very much) I'm not 100% sure what strain the band was on when they decided to end the album with a cover of 'Nights in White Satin' by The Moody Blues. Whilst an interesting take on an overplayed song, it somewhat devalues everything that came before; almost like the band were trying to reach 12 songs so whacked a cover on the end.
So, to sum up..... nope can't think of anything pithy to write. Just seek out this album and thank me later.
