Tuesday 25 July 2017

Sasquatch - Maneuvers (Album Review)


Release date: June 20th 2017. Label: Mad Oak Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Maneuvers – Tracklisting

1.Rational Woman 04:04
2.More Than You'll Ever Be 03:44
3.Destroyer 03:42
4.Bringing Me Down 04:02
5.Just Couldn't Stand The Weather 06:27
6.Drown All The Evidence 06:26
7.Anyway 04:13
8.Lude 00:17
9.Window Pain 05:22

Band Members

Keith Gibbs - Guitar, Vox, Spaghetti Sauce;
Craig Riggs - Drums, Harmonies, Coffee Beans;
Jason Casanova - Bass, Paperwork

Review

Ladies and gentlemen, from Los Angeles, California.....

The SASQUATCH!

After 4 years from their last killer album IV, released by Small Stone Records, this fucking heavy trio come back with a new stunning album that, certainly, does not disappoint the expectations of previous releases. Maneuvers (Mad Oak Records) confirms the attitude of the trio with tons of heavy fuzzy riffs seasoned by a monolithic rhythm section.

As in their style, the band took care of the composition of the songs in the smallest detail. The opener Rational Woman soon reveals is groovy beast character, where the bass enters overpowering on tons of riffs that almost cover the voice (simply amazing) of Keith Gibbs. Songs like More Than You’ll Ever Be and Destroyer are perfect moments where blues meets psychedelia, which is a constant throughout all the album, where the trio from Los Angeles carefully handle all the influences that have distinguished their previous work in a wise and never trivial way.

Tracks like Anyway, the short Lude and Window Pain, with their slow rhythm and the wise use of Hammond, make these songs a wonderful pieces of the seventies, highlighting once again and more than other songs the amazing voice of Keith, which remembers impressively our lovely Chris Cornell.

Compared to previous releases, Maneuvers is, in some way, the less stoner album of the band. The sounds get dryer, sometimes hard, but always seasoned with tons of fuzz and a pachydermic rhythmic section, with the bass to be a carrier. What impresses in this band is that, after thirteen years of honoured career, they remain constantly on the crest of the wave with productions always of very high quality.

In Maneuvers emerges a scratching soul that rocks its roots in the blues and hard rock, in an opera where, while softening the most striking characters of the previous productions, one and only thing emerges: the Sasquatch never miss a shot.

I strongly recommend the listener to recover not only this, but also all the previous productions of the band, to understand the true meaning of a band able to evolve while remaining loyal to itself.

Words by Bruno Bellisario
Thanks to Mona at Platinum PR for the promo. Maneuvers is available to buy now on CD/DD/VInyl.
Links: