CD REVIEW: JUNKYARD – High Water

Shane | 10 August 2017 | Reply

CD REVIEW: JUNKYARD – High Water
Acetate Records
April 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8 ½ /10

Texans Junkyard never really fitted in with the hordes of hair metal power balled spinners that Geffen lumped them in with back in the late ‘80s, their schtick always being more blues n’ booze-based than the slick cocaine-and-aquanet trend then dominating the charts.

It’s been 28 years since their Geffen debut was sidelined in favour of Appetite For Destruction, with only a follow-up album in ’91, and a few independent, low-budget demo-and-live offerings through the 2000’s under their belt. This is the one fans have been waiting for, though – High Water is professionally recorded and sounds great, with founding members singer Dave Roach, guitarist Brian Baker and drummer Pat Mazingo back, alongside 1991 recruit Todd Muscat on bass and guitarist Tim Mosher, who joined the band in 2000.

Heavy blues crossed with raucous punk ‘tood and a southern edge again dominates Junkyard’s sound – opener Walk Away bristles with the same energy that made their Geffen debut an underrated classic; Cut From the Same Cloth is delivered with a Southern sneer; Hellbound is a southern punk boogie woogie growl; W.F.L.W.F. (We fuck like we fight) is authentic self-mythologising the likes of which a million rappers wish they could pull off; Don’t Give A Damn is practically a punked up country hoe down; whilst Wallet and ‘Til The Wheels Fall Off are down and out anthems to living rough and struggling on bravely.

If ever a band knew all about that life, it’s Junkyard – but hopefully High Water will be enough to reinvigorate their legacy and remind listeners that they’re a cut above most of their peers, and if marketed a bit more cannily by Geffen, they might even now be remembered as fondly as Guns n’ Roses.