| CD
Review
| Chigger
Red
| The
Hard Road
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CHIGGER RED
- The
Hard Road
RoadTooth
Records
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Three
records into their recording career, the LA-based trio Chigger Red have
stuck on a formula that guarantees their share of free beer on the biker
circuit for a very long time. A mixture of blues hard rock, southern
boogie and ripped off ZZ Top riffs make up the primary “bag full of
tricks” of what brothers Mike (vocal, guitars) and Chris (bass)
Stansberry with drummer Leo Cuevas bring to the bar. The band’s debut
(Self-titled 2000) hit with a foot-stomping mp3 track “Bitch” which
got the boys noticed and, with 18 months of playing every dive up and
down Sunset strip, landed them some substantial press.
What we get with The Hard Road is the musical biography of how
they weathered the journey to success. “Hangover Hotel” is the
perfect opener. A ragged, guitar-heavy romp with a Molly Hatchet hook.
Mike’s Billy Gibbons-like vocals lend the song plenty of edge as he
tells the tale of growing up a Chigger man. “High Society”,
“Runnin’ On Fumes” and “Death By Alcohol” are steeped in
swagger in a Great White sort of way. A steady beat dancing around a
fire-breathing solo gets your attention right away but it’s the dirty
blues bursts in “Shoot The Moon” and “White Line Blues” that
give this disc a real boost.
The boys slow down for a breather on “‘Till I Die”, an mid-tempo
acoustic slice of reflection that kicks in once Cuevas locks on a steady
back beat. The song builds to a nice little scorcher in four and a half
minutes flat. The band take no chance with their lyrics keeping it
simple and somewhat contrived but Mike’s tasty solos make up for any
stolen Hanoi Rocks material. The disc closes with the killer “That’s
A Crazy Bitch” a start-stop piledriver framed around an open E-chord,
soaked in whiskey and dressed in tight leather. What else do you need?
Website: www.chiggerred.com
Review by Todd
Smith http://www.thecutting-edge.net/
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