MOWER

Not For You

Suburban Noize
rating icon 7 / 10

Track listing:

01. American Psycho
02. Road Rage
03. 10 x 10
04. The End
05. Look Away
06. Broken Hands
07. MPYP
08. General Admission
09. U Turn
10. Undone
11. Not For You
12. L.A. Riot
13. Zone
14. Seedless
15. California Dreamin'


Before the "true" metal warriors among you pass judgment, you really ought to give "Not For You", the second album from San Diego's MOWER, a try. Aspersions will be cast because of Mikey Doling's (SNOT, SOULFLY) involvement as producer. All one needs to be concerned about in Doling's case is the bang-up job he did with the sound on this one — a coarse riff tone, natural drums, thick bass, and arrangements that breathe. Oh, the band's sound? It is a modern and aggressive one that is not easily categorized. Two lead singers (the gritty bark of Brian Sheerin and the higher pitched rasp of Dominic Moscatello) play off each other expertly over often-short tunes that could be characterized as metallically tough, groove-oriented, sometimes punky, and almost always catchy.

Careful about lazily tossing about the "nu" word in describing MOWER because aside from a slight vibe on the melodic "Broken Hands" (a tune that hurts the album's momentum a bit),"modern" is more accurate. The edges are sharp and the delivery is quite raging. At a bit under two minutes, "Road Rage" is as good a song as you'll hear about traffic chaos and bad drivers; pissed off and stomping, it is one of several highlights. Songs like "American Psycho" (yes, as in the Bret Easton Ellis novel) succeed in building a wall of aggression and then letting up for brief melodic breaks. Others like the mid-tempo chug of "10 x 10" and "General Admission" or the up-tempo and punk-tinged "Look Away" (excellent staccato vocal delivery from Moscatello on this one),"Seedless", and "Undone" serve to offer variety without losing cohesion. The riff and rhythm patterns of "The End" fall somewhere between BLACK SABBATH's "Children of the Grave" and DANZIG's "Am I Demon", yet the result is somehow mirthful and fresh. The band is adept at mixing styles and keeping things moving, as the funky bass and grinding riff of the title track, the infectious "Zone", or the CLUTCH-like lazy grooves of "U Turn" and "L.A. Riot" demonstrate. I'm glad the cover of "California Dreamin'" got placed at the end though, so I didn't have to keep skipping over it; not one of the band's better choices, as the version just sounds silly.

On "Not For You" it may seem to some that MOWER walks the line between metal credibility and Hot Topic appeal. All I hear is a band with some good ideas, catchy tunes, and enough aggression to satisfy the pit-mongers. Modern? Nu? Shit, who cares? It's not rocket science; it's a fun album that rocks hard.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).