The Company Band

This side project put together by Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon, Fireball Ministry guitarist James Rota, CKY drummer Jess Margera, Fu Manchu bassist Brad Davis, and second guitarist Dave Bone was initially embraced by the stoner rock community as a fun novelty when its self-released debut EP, Sign Here, Here, and Here, appeared the previous year. This full-length follow-up will make the same folks very happy, as it sounds pretty much exactly like you think it probably does. Fallon's vocals are as backwoods and high-impact as ever, the lyrics are just as pop-culturally savvy and snarky, the dual guitar leads and thunderous bass mix Thin Lizzy with biker metal, and the drums keep it all crashing forward like the bulls at Pamplona. Granted, ultimately this doesn't sound all that different from Fu Manchu's van boogie or Clutch's earlier, less bluesy/jam-bandy material, and that can make it seem inessential, but it can also mean that if you're a bearded, flannel-shirt-with-black-T-shirt-underneath kind of guy who wants some crunch in your guitars and some thumping kick drum to make you bob your head as you pour beer down your throat, this album will be exactly the boot to the base of the skull you're after. Crank it up.