Ballsy Rolling Stones and Faces influenced Rock 'n' Roll...Keith Richards-inspired riffs, swampy slide guitar, soulful Hammond B3 and a singer who sounds not unlike Ronnie Lane with a dose of Sal Valentino thrown in.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: 70's Rock, ROCK: Classic Rock



Details:
If I told you that Sugar Mountain has fashioned one of the coolest roots rock records of the year, you may not be too surprised. Why? Well, first of all, In the Raw is released on Walter Clevengerâs Brewery Records imprint, and WC is a pretty damned talented roots rocker hisownself. Secondly, the disc is produced by Eric âRoscoeâ Ambel, who has played some pretty mean gee-tar for bands such as The Yayhoos, The Del-Lords and Steve Earle and the Dukes. Finally, the band thanks Dan âGeorgia Satellitesâ Baird in the liner notes. It doesnât get more rootsy (rootsier?) than that, does it? What may surprise you, though, is the fact that Sugar Mountain does not hail from South Carolina, Texas or Georgia â nope, this talented quintet calls Pontevedra, Spain home. Youâd never know it from the way Javier Ruanoâs sneering vocals blast from the speakers on cuts such as the swaggering âNot Your Businessâ and âBack on Track,â or the way that Ruano and Yago Carrenoâs guitars cut to the quick on Georgia Satellites-inspired tunes such as âLet it Shineâ (the slide guitar bits here will bring tears to your eyes) and âQueen of the Blues.â Anyway, you get the picture â this is in-your-face, insistently rockinâ stuff (with a twangy, straight-up country detour on âGood Thingâs Goneâ) that owes a huge debt to spiritual and musical forbearers such as the aforementioned Georgia Satellites, The Faces and any other kick-ass band thatâs ever sweated up a storm and drank themselves silly at a bar gig on a Saturday night. Turn it up!

John M. Borack, Amplifier Magazine