KING MUD reviewed in BLURT magazine

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The Upshot: As much pound as boogie, as much snarl as soul—what’s not to like?

BY MICHAEL TOLAND

The line between the blues and rock & roll can be as fine as the hair on a baby’s head, and few walk that line as deftly as the bands on the Alive roster. In that spirit, guitarist Freddy J IV from Left Lane Cruiser and drummer Van Campbell from Black Diamond Heavies wrote some songs with a claw in each mud puddle, rounded up some pals and recorded them as King Mud. – READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW HERE

Nice NO DEPRESSION review of KING MUD “Victory Motel Sessions”

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Supergroup — the word alone is pretentious. Super to who, and why? To my recollection there’s been far more terrible black wax than collectible records made by bands coined supergroups. King Mud is the antithesis of this theory. The dynamic duo of Left Lane Cruiser’s Freddy J IV on guitar, the holder of my very favorite record of 2015,and the incomparable time keeping and skin beating by punk blues prophets, the now defunct Black Diamond Heavies’ drummer Van Campbell.

Having been thoroughly enjoying this record since its arrival months ago, Victory Motel Sessions is jam packed with punk blues and sultry runs up and down the neck in slide form with all that textbook Freddy J IV crunch, a couple appearances by label mate Parker Griggs of Radio Moscow on some sailing solos, and the machine gun thunder of Campbells’ drum kit. If there’s a better drum baited rhythmic build up than the first 45 seconds of album opener “Rat Time” I’ve yet to hear it, feel free to send it along if you find that not to be the case. – READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW ON THE NO DEPRESSION SITE

GOSPELBEACH review in ELMORE Magazine

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Pacific Surf Line, conveys a style that bears testimony to the album title, a series of sun-drenched, softly shimmering Southern California rock tunes that pay due reverence to both the Beach Boys and Neil Young in nearly equal measure. The dreamy designs soaked through songs like “Sunshine Skyway” and “Southern Girl” boast the breezy aural imagery of a hazy Pacific sunset, while the infectious rhythms that accompany “California Steamer” and the cleverly titled “Out of My Mind (On Cope and Reed)” invoke a kind of carefree indulgence that could easily have wafted out of Laurel Canyon circa 1969. Indeed, the entire album comes across as a time warp of sorts, a brilliant paean to pure, hippy happenstance. – READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW HERE