Disclaimer! This review was spurred on solely by the fact that I won’t be able to experience the “Rodriguez” live on July 15th in person (Goddamn you, family obligations!!!) and needed some place to vent and get as many of you to pay attention and, hopefully, go in my stead. This was also spurred on by the fact that Eldridge Rodriguez is awesome and deserve your attention.
But I digress.
For today’s lesson we’ll be focusing on The Castrati Menace which is beyond incredible and another tale of “Wow, I really missed the boat with this band”.
It’s everything that is right in music today. And definitely inimitable. I keep trying to type a “….sounds like….” or “____ is reminiscent of ____” but nothing comes to mind (Although, Mission Of Burma would be an obvious comparison if we’re talking sonic awesomeness). All I can say is that if you haven’t jumped on the “Rodriguez” train yet then you’re definitely missing out on some great rawk.
“Big Dead Heart” is propelled forward by Cameron Keiber’s soulful barks while Dennis Grabowski delivers these bombastic drum lines, pairing nicely with David Grabowski’s low strums on the bass. “Don’t You Feel Bad” is this perfect driving anthem that marches along at ludicrous speeds as Cameron and brother Clayton trade one fuzzed out riff after another. “Piano, #3” is pure Americana put through a sonic food processor (Is that a thing?) with Cameron’s layered vocals creating a remarkable wall of sound.
Almost like a new Sugar track or some great unreleased Bob Mould masterpiece (And yes, I know Mould fronted/created Sugar), “Social Graces Vigilante” hits all the right alt-rock notes while “U-Lock” is 21st Century post-rawk at its’ best as Cameron Keiber spouts distorted non-sensicals amidst air raid sirens and a galloping drone thanks to the Grabowski brothers. “Blame Our Youth” carries on some of that post-something vibe crossed with something Chris Connelly might’ve conjured up in his post-Ministry years.
The hypnotic hum of “Everyone I Know” follows and serves as the calm before the storm that is the title track, which also happens to be a non-stop mix/reprise of the entire album! Unique? Yeah, Eldridge Rodriguez has you covered in that department.
Eldridge Rodriguez has new music in the pipeline through Midriff Records but in the meantime you can, like I did, seek out earlier works digitally by clicking here or here. They’ll be kicking ass and taking names (Ok, maybe not taking names but definitely kicking ass) at O’Brien’s on July 15th with David Age & The Regrets, The Callouts, and Field Nurse as support. Click here for show info and, most importantly, click here for tix!