There are some bands and albums that reek honesty so much that you can just smell it, and that is very much the case here with this 2016 release from trio Ohio Knife. This is good old fashioned rock and roll, and I am sure that Lemmy would really dig these guys. In some ways, they come across as Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle, but crossed with Neil Young, Trapeze and Motörhead. The guitars are fuzzed and distorted, the vocals are broad and raspy, and apart from the production it sounds as if this band are straight out of the seventies, channelling MC5 and the Stooges, with a nod to Link Wray somewhere along the line.
With all that going on it might seem as if this a lot of noise, but these are the influences that come to play on what is an incredibly varied album. I don’t know who provides the keyboards, but whoever that is they have done a fine job, as they add a touch of finesse where it is needed to a very bottom end sounding band. Best track is “Day and Night”, which is just that little quicker, that little bit more upbeat, with repeated piano chords almost as if The Faces are back in town. Rough, raw, melodic, fun, this is a nice little album and I bet these guys are great live. Well worth discovering if you enjoy American rock and roll with a little piece of heart and soul.
