Throttle Body M/C
Since 1990, Throttle Body M/C has been pushing sonic boundaries, whether through the straight-up rock-n-roll of AIDS and Language, For The Few and Marley's Chain (the last two compiled in the digital collection, Hits 1992-1994 (The Greatest Band That Never Was (But Still Is) Part I), the pop explosions of Air Canada and A Typical Wednesday, the experimental, downtempo-influenced Nine or the unlikely Lonely Days (The Ukulele Album), and Super Hits of the 70s, great songs and inspired performances have always been foremost.
Green Monkey Records has always had a weak spot for guitars, distortion, and feedback, and you’ll hear a lot of it on All That Was —the ninth release, and sixth studio album from Throttle Body M/C. The long-time Seattle-now-Toronto-based collective, led by multi-instrumentalist, producer/engineer Jerry Hammack takes a somber look at the state of the world through the album’s eight songs, reflecting on love, loss, age and the relationships that bind us.
The sound is a heavy, textural blend of electric guitars, bass, drums and percussion with distortion and feedback playing a central role. Long, hypnotic opening grooves set the stage for this look at the times we live in. When there’s something to say, it’s brief and succinct, as in the opening track, “Goodbye.”
If it all ended now
After years and years
Would that make
things right?
Would you shed
a tear?
If it stopped to be
you and me
And the world stopped spinning
Whether in the dream of “Lost to Me” or in the question of “When To Set To Sea,” Hammack pulls no punches as the personal is political and the price we pay is a high one. Songs like the title track, “All That Was,” explore life’s suffering, while “Leaving It All Behind” speaks to the loss of identity through the act of emigration.
These are certainly hard times, and rather than a balm for them, Throttle Body M/C faces the world as it is and invites you to as well. Heavy, melodic, hypnotic and meaningful, this is “Album Oriented Rock” in its natural form. Spend some time with it and ask yourself what these days mean to you.
All that was
Has come and gone
All that is
Will never last
Why we toil
From dusk till dawn
Someone please explain |
