I once to see a Nickelback concert to catch the supporting band Monster Truck. Boy they were good and a huge thumbs up to Nickelback for getting them on the bill. After racking up the awards and accolades so far ‘Sittin’ Heavy’ was always going to be the test and I’m glad to say it delivers, maybe even exceeds lofty expectations for Canada’s finest retro-rockers.
Produced by the award-winning Eric Ratz (Billy Talent, Cancer Bats), Sittin’ Heavy was recorded at Vespa Studios, Revolution Recording in Toronto and Monster Truck’s new jam-space studio. What you get is 11 songs that rock hard and strong whilst even showing signs of expanding on their already winning formula. It seems that they learnt a lot on the road taking ideas for improvement from such guiding lights as Slash and Alice in Chains. There’s no need to worry though, there’s nothing too radical here for existing fans, just the odd tweak here and there
Leading out last month with the sizzling first single ‘Don’t Tell Me How to Live’ and more recently with new track ‘The Enforcer’ – an anthemic tribute to Canada’s favourite sport – hockey they hit the ground running and the rest of ‘Sittin’ Heavy’ rocks just as hard.
Check out tracks like opener ‘Why are you not Rocking’ and the funky groove of ‘For the People’ to get a taste of the album, then dig a little deeper for gems like the guitar-laden swagger of ‘Another Man’s Shoes’; the big noise of ‘It Gets Better’ or the epic bluesy blue-sky closer ‘Enjoy the Time’: it’s more than enough to make you sit up and take notice before you find yourself playing this one again and again.
The best thing perhaps about Monster Truck is that they play like they don’t give a damn what you think – you either love epic riffs and great stadium-sized hooks or you listen to pop music. This is music to move you, to groove you and to get your head swaying and your feet tapping.
Whether you love your 70’s styled rock or the slew of newer riff-heavy young guns you’ll find in these grooves a band who know how to rock and know how to get you out of that chair and down to see some real live music. Listening to Monster Truck makes you realise that the future of rock is all that came before and all that can be, and the music we all love is in very safe hands indeed.
