“Fuck yeah! I’m winning!”
As far as I’m concerned and echoing Craig Riggs’ opening statement on the newest KIND record, we’re all winning when it comes to Mental Nudge.
I may have seen Roadsaw before this but the first time that really made an impact was when I caught them opening the debut performance of Queens Of The Stone Age in the fair city of Cambridge, MA at Middle East Upstairs back in 1999. Regardless of the sonic bludgeoning that the band eschewed, it was vocalist Riggs who immediately stood out to me and pushed me to discover Nationwide which, at the time, was their current album.
Beyond Roadsaw, Riggs has shined in a number of outfits but the magic created when he mixes it up with fellow Boston-based rawkers Darryl Shepard (Test Meat, Blackwolfgoat), Tom Corino (Ex-Rozamov), and Matt Couto (Ex-Elder) in KIND is indescribable. But we’re gonna try!
“Broken Tweaker” is a call-to-arms, a defining moment, a trend setter….just ALL of the righteous labels, okay? It also eloquently introduces listeners to the aural grandeur that is KIND with Couto’s drumming, Shepard’s riffage, and Corino’s rumbling bass laying a heavy foundation for Riggs to soulfully croon over like only he could.
By comparison, the aptly titled “Faster Number Two” is a veritable shred-fest, backed by grooves and Riggs delivering a howling bravado over it all. “Bad Friend” settles back in and slows it down again for a track that’s like drifting through a dream state with Shepard’s riffs so heavy and dense that they seem to crawl like molasses over the sonic canvas.
“Helms” is kind of like the sound of Mark Sandman fronting a Desert Rawk wunderkind with this barrage of sensuous sounds hurling towards yer earholes like a comet. Later, “It’s Your Head” is spiritually in tune with Sky Valley with Shepard and Corino’s combined fuzz connecting the dots from the past to the present and then venturing out into unknown terrain driven by Couto’s steady sticks before careening back toward a riff-a-licious end.
The title track is a quick stop into Blues-fueled Psych territory before Doom incarnate itself lands in the form of “Trigger Happy” which is cut from the same crushing cloth that Sludge lords like Crowbar and Eyehategod come from. After a solid five minutes of Shepard and Corino’s staggered blasts of plucked power, KIND take a detour to jam town for one last raucous throwdown before heading back down into the mud, lurching and laboring with Couto’s mighty cymbal crashes and Riggs’ hushed refrains echoing towards the inevitable conclusion.
Mental Nudge arrives in the Milky Way Galaxy on September 11th through Ripple Music. Pre-orders are up now and can be yours by clicking here or here. For the latest on KIND, follow them on the interweb by clicking here.