Scattered Hamlet – Skeleton Dixie
SCATTERED HAMLET
SKELETON DIXIE
Released February 22, 2013 (Hell Rider Recordings)
Track List:
01. Shelter
02. Outlaw Anthem
03. Warning
04. In Good Company
05. It’s Alright With Me
06. Falling Off The Wagon
07. Guilty Plea
08. Mississippi Queen
09. Powder Kegs And Gasoline
10. Family Tree
11. Skeleton Dixie
Band:
Adam Joad – vocals and guitar
Redd Yoachum – guitar
Richard Erwin – bass and vocals
Jake Delling Le Bas – drums
Additional Musicians:
Randy ‘The Arsonist’ Cooper – lead guitar (6)
Claudio Tristano – guitar
James Jannette – paino and harmonica
Brandon Davis – percussion and backup vocals
Adam newell – backup vocals
Production:
Produced by Jason Donaghyand Scattered Hamlet. Mastered by Howie Weinberg.
Review:
Scattered Hamlet are a quartet whose influences range from southern rock to groove metal to doom metal with the attitude of punk rock. Based out of Southern California, Scattered Hamlet have ventured outside their stomping ground and have blazed a trail throughout the Southwest and back to So-Cal, even catching the attention of the U.K.’s Classic Rock Magazine who praised the band and their EP Hillbilly Harmony.
Skeleton Dixie, the band’s full-length debut album, kicks off with “Shelter”, which has the subtly of a homeowner discharging a shotgun in the house after coming home to find he’s being burglarized. It packs the kick of an enraged mule and will leave your head ringing — as does the entire album for that matter. Scattered Hamlet‘s lyrical content isn’t rocket science — its blue collar, working man’s alcohol-fueled poetry. The music is gritty, rambunctious, explosive rock ‘n’ roll at its finest. While singer Adam Joad won’t be celebrated for his vocal abilities, he plays to his strengths and showcases that swagger and attitude can go a long way.
Skeleton Dixie is consistently good from top to bottom. Among the standouts are “Outlaw Anthem”, featuring a main riff that borrows heavily from Lynyrd Skynyd‘s “Saturday Night Special”, and “It’s Alright with Me”, which finds guitarist Redd Yoachum delivering one of the best melodic solos I’ve heard in 2013. “Falling Off The Wagon” has a fantastic groove that, without a doubt, will bring the house down each and every night. Scattered Hamlet thumb their nose at the strong arm of the law with “Guilty Plea”, which features great slide guitar and harmonica, while “Family Tree” is an ode to southern pride, whether autobiographical or not isn’t known, but brilliantly written none the less. I was keeping my fingers crossed that Scattered Hamlet would record Steve Earle‘s “Copperhead Road”, which they have worked into the live set, but instead they elected to go with “Mississippi Queen” which is more recognizable by the average rock and metal fan — perhaps a little too ‘safe’, but their rendition stays true to the Mountain classic.
As a whole Skeleton Dixie hits the spot and hopefully builds on the buzz created by their EP and facilitates Scattered Hamlet to stay on the road deep into 2013.
www.scatteredhamlet.com – www.facebook.com/ScatteredHamlet
Reviewed by Ruben Mosqueda for Sleaze Roxx, March 2013
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