Mississippi Bones Know You all Want Mr. Toad
Going from just the music on the burned copy I was given to review, I pictured Ohio rockers Mississippi Bones consisting of five dudes in various stages of beer-bellied burliness, all with different haircuts, ripped jeans, leather vests – the very picture of commercial booze rock aspiration. Their 2010 self-titled, self-released full-length, topping out with nine tracks at just over half an hour, is a collection of viciously catchy chorus-based songs that, were the climate different (maybe it is in Ohio, I couldn’t say one way or another from personal experience), would be the toast of whatever rock radio station’s local spotlight, packing the nearby midsized venue in the opening slot for Black Label Society or the like. You get the idea.
Almost needless to say after that setup, I was thoroughly mistaken. Not necessarily in my impression of the sound, just what went into making it. Mississippi Bones (not to be confused with either Southern boogie mongrels Mississippi Sludge or reactivated Canadian stoner rockers Mister Bones) is two dudes: guitarist/bassist/programmer Dusty Donley and vocalist/programmer Jared Collins. Though they sounded clean and consistent throughout, I still thought there were live drums on Mississippi Bones, and that perhaps they’d been triggered with samples à la so many latter day commercial heavy/hard rock productions. Turns out there was never a drummer there to start with. That’s what I get for making an assumption in the age of ProTools.
Together, Donley and Collins construct a full-sounding record of tightly-written songs that pull much of their influence from Clutch’s relentless groove. Collins’ lyrical subject matter, referential style and rhythmic cadence on tracks like opening duo “Sasquatch Paparazzi” and “Makin’ Deals with the Robot Devil” owes no small debt to Neil Fallon, but Donley’s guitar is crunchier, more metallic and less funk-driven than anything Clutch has put out to date. At 4:44, “The Silverforked Tongue of Mr. Toad” is Mississippi Bones’ longest cut, and also one of the album’s most infectious, a handclap/vocal break inviting more beer-hoisting than in-depth analysis, and I find that the more and the louder I hear it, the more willing I am to go along for the ride Mississippi Bones are taking. Collins’ bottom-of-the-mouth “hey whoa yeah” vocals are a big part of what aligns the band to modern commercial hard rock, but the cleanliness of the production across the board on a song like “The Leopard, the Lion and the She-Wolf” makes me wonder if one or both Collins and Donley aren’t recording professionals. If not, maybe they should think about a career switch.
They approach a Soundgarden vibe on “Full Moon Risin’” and “Band-1” sounds like it could have come off the last Puny Human record, but through it all, the accessible memorability of the songs remains primary. These are (have I mentioned?) catchy, traditionally structured hard rock songs, and they’re not trying to be anything else. Collins and Donley groove a little Southern, especially on the countrified acoustic-led closer “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” but the no-frills rocking of “The Venkman” is more representative of Mississippi Bones as an album. At 2:46, it’s about as straightforward as rock gets. The duo may not be doing much to revolutionize their genre, but they give an excellent representation of it, and it seems to me that if they’re not playing this stuff live with a full band behind them, they’re missing out an essential aspect of the experience. This is the kind of music that draws a rock crowd, and as the record is in and out in 30 minutes, it’s a perfect opening set. Hit the road, boys.
Whatever Mississippi Bones ends up doing in terms of lineup construction, commercial radio success or touring, the two members that now comprise it have shown their ability to relate instantly reachable songs with an undeniably complete sound. The duo, as a form, is all the rage these days, but Mississippi Bones act more as an entire band than most of the trend-riding minimalists out there. Their self-titled is solid American-styled hard rock just waiting to kick off your good times, and for many listeners out there, it’s going to be a welcome find.
Tags: Mississippi Bones, Ohio, Unsigned bands
Thanks for the great review, man. I put up a link on our Facebook page, so hopefully it drives some traffic your way.
I also wanted to throw some props to our buddy Josh Palmer at Zombietakeover Media. He recorded and mixed the record for us, so we can thank him for the great sound we got on the record.
Really, I don’t like the references to Clutch. Bones has way more balls and are 10 times the fun.
I know Dusty is a fan, but I look at it like this… Eddie Van Halen was a fan of Clapton’s, but out-played and out-wrote EC in my opinion. (layla and tears in heaven are two of my favorites btw.) So I feel that the MB songs are better and way more memorable. I’d rather hear Unchained then Sunshine of your Love. And I’d rather hear the Leopard, the Lion and the She-wolf then anything by Clutch.
Can’t wait to hear new Bones material in the future.