Search - I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House :: Menace

A Third great album from a great band

BassMan | Seattle, WA United States | 11/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To start, I can Lick any SOB in the House is one of the hardest working and best performing live acts in America, and they have earned and deserve the name. Don't be put off by the name, they're actually some of the friendliest folks you'll ever meet. People don't see these guys once, they see them once and then come back to every show they play in town. Go see them live.



Menace is their third CD, and as much as I like the first two, the band keeps getting better. They're described in all sorts of ways such as alt-county-rock, southern rock (they're from Portland Oregon but the sound works anyway) I've heard Hill-Billy used in the same sentence with their name, but to me, they're just a great Rock & Roll band. Their Front Man is Mike Damron, and he commands the stage like a fire breathing preacher (OK I' may be exaggerating, but the guy is good at his job). Mike also writes the songs, and the songs are powerful, often political, and always unapologetic and sung with heart. The musicians in the band are all top notch, and as hard working as Mike himself. Mole Harris on Bass, Flapjack Texas on drums (yes he answers to that name), Handsome Jon Burbank on lead guitar--Jon also did a fantastic job producing the CD--, and David Lipkind playing some really good harmonica.



As for the songs on the disc, I listened to Westboro Baptist Church at full volume several times on November 3rd, and it really helped. I could listen to that several times in a row. I had it on headphones here at my desk, and the guys in the band may be happy to know I couldn't help singing along. Not everyone I work with was amused. Sore winners I guess. Rachel Corrie is a great tribute the activist from Olympia Washington of that name who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting the destruction of Palestinian homes by said Bulldozer. The album has some great rockers on it like the opening track Gone, Fall Down, and Menace, as well as some ballads like Pauline, Dust & Sun, and Regrets & Greyhound. Everything works, and there's not a song on the disc that isn't great to my ears. Buy this CD, and the go see them live (or the other way around whatever works for you).



You also want to check out their second disc Put Here to Bleed."