The added bluesy piano and groovy harmonica easily make “Suzy’s Cookies,” the big hit of the album. Giving off a smooth, chill vibe, you may feel like you are hanging out in King Mud’s garage listening to the guys jam out. This song is just as awesome as the title. – READ THE REVIEW HERE
Northern Ireland’s the Bonnevilles are steeped in the blues and they enliven and amp up their sound by playing as a duo with Andrew McGibbon Jr. on vocals and guitar and Chris McMullan on drums. – READ THE POST ON THE POPMATTERS SITE
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
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
Order DIRTY SPLIFF BLUES on HAND PRESSED SMOKE VINYL LTD. EDITION here
