Blues Review – Left Lane Cruiser’s “Claw Machine Wizard”
Think the blues is a tired old fuddy duddy art form not fit for doing much more than influencing later forms of music like country and rock & roll? Then apparently you’ve never gotten a snoot full of the deep blues scene’s surviving members Left Lane Cruiser from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Call it deep blues, call it punk-inspired—Left Lane Cruiser prefers the term “gut bucket blues.” But no matter what your wording, it’s a head-banging, chest-pounding damn good time.
Left Lane Cruiser has now released nine of these ornery sons of bitches, and each one spitting venom and hitting the groove with the same ferocity. Where so many hard charging bands lose their edge as they age and their output gets stale, or they decide they need to wisen up and start singing lullabies, Left Lane Cruiser keeps on digging, if anything, exploring deeper into the heart of their sound. That’s one of the themes of their new record, Claw Machine Wizard, which doesn’t let up, and doesn’t back down. Like they say in the new song “Still Rollin'” – “Stay true to your roots!”
The band’s last record Dirty Spliff Blues was sort of an outlier in their output since it featured the deep blues perennials as a three piece. No offense to that era, but the two piece is what serves Left Lane Cruiser the best, and sensing this before anyone needed to tell them, Claw Machine Wizard takes it back to a two man crew, with long-time guitar player, screamer, songwriter, and founder Freddy J Evans IV collaborating with can kicker Pete Dio who came on board for long-time drummer Brenn Beck during the previous record.
Though Claw Machine Wizard doubles down on their hard-charging sound, which during some periods could be mistaken for downright heavy metal, it also expands on their influences, just in a way that honors the band’s original approach. Claw Machine Wizard is not all piss and vinegar. The song “Lay Down” shows incredible reservation from Freddy Evans with an almost Motown sort of vibe without losing Left Lane’s signature edge.
“Smoke Break” could almost be something from Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters era, just with a Left Lane Cruiser kick to it. And while many of their lyrics involve kicking and screaming about bad women and poor luck, the final song “Indigenous” shows a layer of depth and message not hindered by the band’s hardcore sound, but fueled by it.
“There’s still a lot of signature Left Lane Cruiser gut-bucket blues, but we’re constantly trying to expand the sound,” says Freddy Evans. “I’ve always kept our foundation in blues and classic rock, but after a decade of making albums, eventually new flavors creep in. On the road we listen to a lot of James Brown, Funkadellic, Parliament, Charles Bradley and other soulful artists … There’s a lot of different flavors on this one.”
Left Lane Crusier’s music has been featured on Breaking Bad and other places, partly because they’re able to channel and capture that desperate energy into amplified sounds like few others. It’s an anger and an edge that is often expressed in music, but not always in a way that adheres to groove and a kernel of melody like Cruiser does, however carnal.
Exhibiting growth while sticking to your roots and the heart of your sound is something every artist and band struggles with, and where many ultimately stumble. But on Claw Machine Wizard, Left Lane Cruiser walks that line with authority, and the result is maybe their most forward-thinking and accessible album yet, while leaving plenty of meat on the bones for those hardcore followers.
1 1/2 Guns Up (7.5/10)
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Purchase Claw Machine Wizard from Alive Naturalsound Records
hoptowntiger94
May 24, 2017 @ 7:00 pm
Trig – You turned me on to these guys years ago; I’ve been a fan ever since (I got 11 albums in my library – two are special projects, not studio albums). I’ve only had CMW a couple days, so I don’t have anything to add to your review, but I am thrilled they “double downed on their hard-charging sound.”
TwangBob
May 25, 2017 @ 4:12 am
Wow! This is new to my ears. Lovin’ the stripped down boogie sound…. thanks!
Northern rebel
May 25, 2017 @ 5:08 am
Their version of bob seger’s come to poppa is epic. Thanks for the review.
Jack Williams
May 25, 2017 @ 6:14 am
It is. Sway, too.
Trigger
May 25, 2017 @ 10:46 am
That whole “Painkillers” album with James Leg is tits. I normally don’t go for cover albums, but that thing holds up and then some.
Brett
May 25, 2017 @ 5:27 am
Ive really liked these guys sound for sometime now. Theyve had so many releases so quickly i stay overwhelmed. Anybody got a suggestion of a good album to start with that will fully sell me? Thanks and great review.
Trigger
May 25, 2017 @ 10:52 am
This might be their most accessible album. That’s why I wanted to review it. There’s a couple of their albums I don’t have and I’m not a super expert on them, so perhaps someone else could give you a better road map.
Jim
May 25, 2017 @ 7:05 am
I like a lot of Fat Possum’s stuff, and we all owe them a debt for bringing RL Burnside and Junior Kimbrough into the mainstream. But damn, I will never forgive them for inspiring this whole “just play sloppy John Lee Hooker riffs as hard as you can” thing that’s taken over.
The Senator
May 25, 2017 @ 7:11 am
You got my attention on this one, Trig. If this is as good as Scott Biram’s last album that you also recommended, I’ll be more than satisfied. Heavy blues with a diverse edge? Mentions of Herbie Hancock? Game on.
Time to head over to the local record shop.
Lunchbox
May 26, 2017 @ 1:56 pm
Scott Biram and Left Lane Cruiser both do the punk blues thing. S.H.B. might be a little folksier though. you should try the Hooten Hollers too.
https://youtu.be/X32nogZZTFo
Lone Wolf
May 26, 2017 @ 5:37 am
Wow!!!! Great stuff here, Trig!!!!