Album review – MONSTER TRUCK ‘Sittin’ Heavy’

Stick this in your pipe and smoke it: Canada’s Monster Truck is back with a brand new album that will rock your world, light your fire, and clean your clock. This is stick to your ribs, home-cooked hard rock with bone-rumbling and addictive riffs, and a groove deep and gritty enough to shake the dust off your eardrums.

If you experienced Monster Truck’s previous album ‘Furiosity’ (read my review), you’ll kind of know what to expect, but the band is even tighter and more confident this time around, giving the riffs, the lyrics, the vocals, and the rumbling melodies an added weight, an added warmth, and an added spark that improves on what was already an outstanding band.

Every track on ‘Sittin’ Heavy’ is a keeper, and which one is my favourite depends more on the time of day and my own mood than anything else. Nobody does riff-heavy, groovy, crunchingly raw rock-tunes quite like Monster Truck. Just check out the fast and furious ‘Why Are You Not Rocking’; or the floor-shaking, roof-raising  rebel-anthem ‘Don’t Tell Me How To Live for solid proof of that. The trippy and heavy ‘To The Flame’ is a cure-all dose of guitar-awesome, while the saucy and swaggering ‘She’s A Witch’ is rock and roll magic of the highest order. Also check out the rowdy ‘Another Man’s Shoes’ for some grade-A Monster Truck rock.

One of my favourite tracks on ‘Sittin’ Heavy’ is ‘Black Forest’, a track with a dark and almost grieving mood, gleaming with steely bits of pain and loss. The emotional power of the music, and the excellent vocals give this track a depth and glow that sticks with me. I could listen to it on constant repeat (OK, I already did) for a very long time.

Another exceptional tune is the loose and glorious ‘New Soul’, a tune that is like a cosmic jam-session you never want to end, and it’s followed by the laid-back rock and roll philosophy of ‘Enjoy The Time’, another strong track on this 5-star release.

Monster Truck has some old-school influences wrapped around its musical DNA – bands like Grand Funk Railroad, Neil Young, Deep Purple, and AC/DC – but they are most definitely masters of their own sound, and they’re honing and enriching that sound on this release. ‘Sittin Heavy’ is a bonafide rock and roll knockout, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a must-have.

Monster Truck are currently on tour: check out all the dates at the band’s website.

Monster Truck’s official website / Facebook / Twitter

Track-list:

1. Why Are You Not Rocking
2. Don’t Tell Me How To Live
3. She’s A Witch
4. For The People
5. Black Forest
6. Another Man’s Shoes
7. Things Get Better
8. The Enforcer
9. To The Flame
10. New Soul
11. Enjoy The Time

Lineup:

• Jon – Bass and Vocals
• Brandon – Keys and Vocals
• Steve – Drums and Vocals
• Jer – Guitar and Vocals

 

 

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