Mean Mother, Rock ‘n’ Roll Shakedown: It’s Like Some Kind of Shakedown… But with Rock ‘n’ Roll. Get it?
They’ve made a beeline for the rock, have Michigan’s Mean Mother. The Detroit/Grand Rapids four-piece – who formed in 2003 as a side-project of more metallic acts like Ganon and Today I Wait – make their full-length debut (I think; there seems to be one release before it, but info is scarce) in the form of Rock ‘n’ Roll Shakedown (Saw Her Ghost Records), an album the name of which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about it. The first lines of the opening title cut read as follows: “Make a fist for rock ‘n’ roll/Yeah/Come on/Right now,” and from right there, it only gets more apparent that Mean Mother have no interest in poetry, no interest in brooding melancholy, no interest in pompous artistic posing. They’re here to drink, riff and groove, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Shakedown only asks that you come along for the catchy 42-minute joyride.
It’s the kind of heavy rock one expects to come more from Texas than Michigan – acts like Blood of the Sun and SuperHeavyGoatAss springing to mind as comparison points; or maybe even the new school of Small Stone rockers like Backwoods Payback and Lo-Pan (neither of whom is Texan) – but no question the double-guitar foursome have their papers in order when the issue is heavy rock influences. From Clutch to Deep Purple to the obvious Sabbath and Motörhead cues, they only want to rock, and the utter lack of pretense of anything else is what makes Rock ‘n’ Roll Shakedown work. A track like “Easy Livin’” makes its bones on ‘70s riffing and the white-guy-soulful delivery of guitarist Roxy Vega as backed by bassist Clint Debone, and there’s a million directions one could go in saying, “I’ve heard this before” in citing bands, but Mean Mother do what they do well and write a solid heavy rock song. Vega and fellow guitarist Cobra O’Kelly offer righteous riff-grooves and soloing, and Debone and drummer Bronco Johnson consistently lay down warm foundational rhythms. There’s a reason it’s become the heavy rock formula over the last 40 years, and the reason is it sounds cool.
Some of Mean Mother’s heavier side comes out on tracks like “Kill for the Thrill” or the later, guitarmonized “N.H.,” but by and large, Rock ‘n’ Roll Shakedown does little to change its straightforward approach. That works to the album’s benefit when it comes to a song like the short, driving “Easy Livin’” or the motor-rocking “The Hustler,” but as the nine tracks play out, a samey feeling is unavoidable. The energy being what really helps the band carry the songs across – the shuffle of “You Don’t Have the Right” approaches Stone Axe-levels of swaggering classic rock worship – that’s difficult to maintain across the span of a full-length and manage to incorporate some level of sonic diversity as well. Mean Mother aren’t quite there yet in that regard, and the production on Rock ‘n’ Roll Shakedown, while allowing for everything to come across crisply, does little to highlight any dynamic range present.
But who needs that shit when you’ve got volume, right? Mean Mother aren’t looking to change the world, aren’t looking to reshape riff rock, aren’t looking to do anything more than drink beer, have fun and play heavy tunes, and though there are parts of Rock ‘n’ Roll Shakedown that stand out as derivative, I’m not about to fault the band the intent – or, for that matter, the execution. The album does everything Mean Mother want it to, offering a modern take on the guitar rock of yore. It’s simple, but it’s effective, and if you take anything away from this review, let it be the number of times the word “rock” has been used – 18 so far – and derive what’s at the heart of Mean Mother’s objectives from that. Their rock is boozy, bruised, ballsy and grooved, and it’s exactly what they mean it to be. If you find yourself needing a refresher of what no frills rock and roll is all about, these dudes are more than happy to remind.
Tags: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Mean Mother, Michigan, Saw Her Ghost Records
