Bowlscraper
Red Hair Revolution
6.8
Need some background music for downing a case of MGD? Bowlscraper is just that band. These Detroit guys toe the arbitrary line separating hard rock and metal. While the subject matter isn’t going to inspire any deep philosophical study, they’re obviously out to just play some music and toke up, and yet they manage to keep it fun. Red Hair Revolution has plenty of groove to spare, playing out like the bastard child of Black Label Society and Pantera, along with other similar influences like Down and Corrosion of Conformity. It’s hard to believe these guys are from Michigan, and not the deep south. Imagine the best bar band you’ve ever heard, some old-school metalheads, who used to listen to Motorhead and early-period hardcore.
Mick has the perfect voice for this band, gritty and lively, and he waxes poetic on deep topics like weed, fights, and beer. The production is clean, with an emphasis on the bass that is rarely-heard nowadays. You can actually hear the damn thing clearly, and the band contributes by haven’t occasional parts where everyone drops out but Wayne and his bass. The drums get buried, but he’s not playing anything complex.
When they dial in a nice rock groove, it makes me wonder why these guys aren’t seeing radio time. The excellent C.O.C.-like track “Stoned” is perfect radio hard rock, with a nice set of catchy riffs, awesome lyrics (such as “and you know we’ll drink down a beer or two…or maybe six!”). Eli’s guitarwork is at times reminiscent of Dimebag Darrell’s (c’mon…Pantera), both in riffs and solo style. Check out “Full Hand” to hear that similarity. One other song that has to be mentioned is “M.L.P.” which stands for “Major League Player”. Any song where the singer shouts out “His name is Robert Paulsen” gets respect from me.
For a rockin’ listen, look no further than Bowlscraper. Their music isn’t going to boggle the mind, but it’s driving, uptempo fun. The good songs make up for the mediocre ones, which suffer more from repetition, rather than lame riffage and songwriting. I’m having a good time with this album, but it might not be for the more serious-minded metalheads. The best thing to do is to head on over to their site and hear the sample tunes.
