Austin, Texas’ American Sharks have returned after a five-year hiatus with a new rocker of an album titled Not Dead Yet for all of you out there figuring they were finished.
The opening title track takes off like someone stomping the gas pedal of a muscle car outfitted with flame throwers and machine guns. “Flowers for the Dead” (featuring a guitar solo by David Sullivan of Red Fang) has the flame throwers on that car burning down everything along a funeral procession while a dog growls and barks as they pass and toss an empty beer can at it. “Goodbye, my love, goodbye,” Roky Moon sings, preferring to send his dearly departed out on a high note.
“I saw a demon on my left. I saw a lizard on my right,” Moon says in the beginning of the absolutely slamming “Going Insane,” letting us know about weird visions he’s having both in and out of sleep while Aaron Echegaray goes bonkers on lead guitar. “Fuzz War” is suitably fuzzy for its title. “I need blood, I need something real,” Moon sings on “Give Me Blood.” His vocals become echoed and distorted as he tries to find anything concrete in the illusions in which he’s living.
“Bang Yer Head” (with solo Mike Derks of GWAR) is a fun classic metal track that you can imagine was a blast for them to record. Nick Cornetti goes wild with his snare hits, sounding like he went through several of them while playing it. Zach Blair of Rise Against stops in for his own guitar solo duty on “The Machine,” which almost reaches hair metal territory, and The Sword‘s “Kyle Schutt” unleashes a solo of his own on “Sunny Sunday,” an upbeat track with sad lyrics (“It ain’t been the same since you were last around…I’ll be sittin’ here waiting for you.”).
The album ends with “They Want Peace” featuring Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol‘s Leo Lydon not only contributing another guest guitar solo but also backing vocals. “Hey, man. I need water. Could you spare a little please?”, Lydon asks. They’re looking for compassion in a world that’s lacking it. It can also be allusion to the Southwest’s growing and dire water shortage issue.
The world’s not dead yet, and American Sharks are trying to tell us that we can do something about it. We don’t need to just roll over and die. We can keep banging our heads and rocking out and watching out for each other. Someone you know needs a boost. Crank this and wake them up.
Keep your mind open.
[I might go insane if you don’t subscribe.]
[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]