Monster Truck: Sittin' Heavy

Hamiltonians prove there’s more than meets the eye socket

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With a band name this macho and an equally brawny slogan in ‘Don’t Fuck With The Truck’, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Monster Truck’s mission was to make meat’n’potatoes rock’n’roll made for sluggin’ beer and startin’ bar brawls.

And while there’s plenty to party to on this, their second album, there’s much more to the Truck than meets the eye. The party kicks off with the racing Why Are You Not Rocking?, a fast-paced rock’n’roll whirlwind with a catchy chorus, but as the album continues the variety in sound unfolds. Many songs have a Southern streak; the jaunty For The People sounds made for a hoedown, while Black Forest is particularly Skynyrd-esque. To The Flame goes heavier: a slow and sleazy sludge anthem.

Finally, Enjoy The Time ends things with a lighters-in-the-air, emotional singalong. You can hear elements of the likes of Zeppelin, Clutch and Black Stone Cherry in their mix, but Monster Truck manage to stay fresh and exciting while still sounding somewhat familiar.

This truck will keep on rollin’ for quite some time.

Hannah May Kilroy

Hannah May Kilroy has been writing about music professionally for over a decade, covering everything from extreme metal to country. She was deputy editor at Prog magazine for over five years, and previously worked on the editorial teams at Terrorizer and Kerrang!. She currently works as the production editor for The Art Newspaper, and also writes for the Guardian, Classic Rock and Metal Hammer.