To put it simply… this is Rock & Roll played the way it should be – rugged, primal, f*kin-loud, headbanging-feedback-raw down&dirty guitar-riffin’ tunes possessed and whipdriven by thick-as-sirloin-steak meaty bass and rumble-the-floorboards Norse ThunderGod drumming.
But I ‘wax poetic’ here…
Being a hardcore devotee of Sixties/Seventies power trios (…I lived my teens/twenties with them) like Jimi Hendrix Experience, West Bruce & Laing, (Jeff)Beck Bogert & Appice, Budgie, Rush, and especially Cream, cramming Live At The Glue Pot by Onionface into my headphones and cranking up the volume to ’11+’ knocked the dust off those synapses of mine drugged by far too much bland MOTR pap that attempts to pass itself off as Rock & Roll these days.
But pegging them as merely a born-again Sixties power trio would be a gross misnomer, to say the least. Let’s hop right to the sixth song on the album, The Wolf…
(…hang on …I’m listening)
*seven minutes later*
(…okay, I’m back. …where was I? Oh, yeah)
The opening rock-bottom pulse of The Wolf sinks right into a psychedelic StonerRock pace laced with Stefan Jurewicz‘s feedback reverbed guitar riffs and singular notes that would make Blue Cheer or Queens of the Stone Age proud. After setting the rhythm for about a third of the tune, Jon Schultz moves subtley into a syncopation that weaves in and around the free-form bass of Calvin McCormick as all three musicians raise this almost-jam into a broader and spacey-er realm – their instruments’ voices coiling out and through the composition’s theme, only to restore the foundation again before tangenting in completely different avenues. All this coupled with Stephan’s vocals shifting from a drifting sonorous tone to a razorback scream.
(…was there a theremin in there?)
Alien Baby, the album’s opener, rocks right out with steam-engine chugging guitar and bass… and just a little bit of a punk feel. Onionface then shifts into a straight-ahead rocker, Remember When, that reminds all of us that “we used to dance to Rock & Roll”. The fundamental drumming and bass of this three-minute high-speed rocker harks back to the R&R of the Fifties (…like Bill Haley & His Comets) and earlier Sixties and urges us to “let’s bring it back”. It even ends with a typical guitar riff of the times.
The solid blues-rock Tight Rope Walker is one of those songs you put on with the volume full-blast when you’re cruisin’ down the open road and playing air guitar while steering with your knees and lookin’ for the ‘fuzz’. It leads into an excellent rendition Spoonful, the band’s bow to one of Stephan’s influences – Cream.
Then there’s Birdman. This song that rounds out the album was my first intoduction to Onionface when Stephan played solo. It blew my mind. It was the rawest and grungiest piece of music – like gravel scraping grey dust and cobwebs out of my head making me sit up and listen. It was simply the most original, primal, and best song I had heard in years. Playing it live with Jon and Calvin adding their skills gives this already potent piece a rock-bottom powerful punch.
(…you can taste the solo version here)
Do I hear the influence of Cream here? Yes, but also Alvin Lee (Ten Years After), Hendrix, The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Doors, ZZ Top, and a host of others – the long line of Blues-based Rock musicians who make this genre the powerful and soul-stirring music it is. And Onionface is part of this line – and more, for Stephan, Calvin and Jon have infused their music with styles stretching from Stoner/Desert and Psychedelic to elements of Jazz improvisation. Their musical maturity and intrinsic historical knowledge permeates this album, as well as their live shows. I anticipate some fine music in the future from Onionface.
In summary, all I can say is: Dudes… you have inspired in me some much needed hope and faith for the future of Rock itself.
(“…sing with me, Gluepots!”)
[…it’s rumored that they will be playing at a house party soon, but you’ll have to ask a punk]
Grab Onionface : Live At The Glue Pot here ⇒ and check out their single, Golden Lips.
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