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April 2024

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Sweetkiss Momma: Revival Rock

Southern/Blues Rock

3.75/5.0

Independent/Self-promotion
www.myspace.com/sweetkissmomma
www.skmband.com
By Craig Hartranft,  10.11.2010

Causing more than a little stir in the underground indie movement for Southern rock is Washington based Sweetkiss Momma and their first full-length album Revival Rock. The disc has been ripping up CDBaby's Southern rock charts since its debut, and their songs are going to be featured in 'undisclosed and unnamed' video game in 2011. Yet, you probably still haven't heard of Sweetkiss Momma. Well, now you have. And Revival Rock is an appropriate name for this band's deep roots in American southern and blues rock.

Drawing from the past and present, from Allman Brothers to Lynyrd Skynyrd to Kings of Leon, Sweetkiss Momma offer gritty back porch, whiskey-dripping, southern rock charm. They're darn good at it, too. Ready to Go, Mercy Love, Come Clean among others cut a large and viable dusty back road across the genre. I might even suggest that there are even older vibes here going back to Big Brother & the Holding Company, if you have the ears to hear.

Sweet Little Thing, Sugar in the Raw (best track), and Ready to Go add some necessary rock kick to stir things up. And Son of the Mountain, To Help a Man, and Slow Fade (second best track) offer gut level inspiration. Yet, all is not a bottle of Jack, a glass, and a warm summer breeze on Revival Rock. Mercy Love and Rocket seem genuinely similar, and the overly long Strange Fire could bore you half to death. Then there's the confused spirituality within. (SKM started in a local church.) You have the sublime naughtiness of Sweet Little Thing and Good God Woman swerving against the Gospel metaphors of To Help a Man. But Southern music has always tangled, wrestled, and glorified sin with the sacred.

Sweetkiss Momma's Revival Rock is pure, gritty, and authentic Southern rock about 30 years removed from yesterday. With sound inspiration from past influences and terrific musicianship, Sweetkiss Momma is the real deal.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Sweetkiss Momma's Revival Rock is pure, gritty, and authentic Southern rock about 30 years removed from yesterday. With sound inspiration from past influences and terrific musicianship, Sweetkiss Momma is the real deal.

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Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]