Crobot’s debut ‘Something Supernatural’ featured highly in our lists of the year back in 2014 and after a wait of almost 2 and a half years the follow up was always going to be interesting. Could they match it? Could they better it? Or would that ‘difficult second album’ strike again?
As an avid reader of Hunter S Thompson as a young man I did wonder about the title and sure enough ‘Fat City’ (as Thompson wanted to re-christen Aspen Colorado, should he have been elected Mayor) came from the man. All that got me to wondering with their Bluesy, Stoner, Retro, Freaky, Garagey melting pot of Hard Rocking influences – is Crobot the first ‘Gonzo-Rock’ band?
You be the judge of that, one thing is for certain, this shit sounds so good!
The essence of Crobot you always feel is that of a ‘live’ band, as they say themselves: “First and foremost, we boil down to a live band. If something doesn’t feel good up there, we push it aside. That helped pave the way for this new music.” Indeed it’s that freedom that playing live gives that allows them to be so free in the studio and try to capture that spontaneity that was shot through their debut.
The album itself is just more of everything they did so well on that last release – more guitar, more heavy riffage, more blues, more funk, more attitude.
The first single ‘Not For Sale’ sums it all up nicely – a huge energy, nice and aggressive, in your face and unforgettable. It doesn’t end there of course: the slower ‘Hold On For Dear Life’ shows an almost soulful edge amidst the loose groove; while ‘Temple in the Sky’ continues the sonic assault and rubs up nicely next to the Stoner vibes coming off ‘Right Between the Eyes’.
It’s later tracks though like ‘Blood on the Snow’ and ‘Steal the Show’ that show there’s no slowing down and no dip in quality or intensity either. Our very favourite moments come right at the end: the slow bluesy, smoky building ‘Moment of Truth’ and definite highlight ‘Plague Of The Mammoths’ which just plain rocks you over the edge.
This is a great album by a band that won’t have disappointed fans of ‘Something Supernatural’ one little bit, and who are sure to only get bigger and bolder as more people get to hear the good word from the denizens of ‘Fat City’.
