Sounding like a hard-rock influenced blend of Big Head Todd and the Monsters and George Thorogood, Demonophobic Blues by Tony C and the Truth make me long for the good old days of blurry dive bars, Marlboro Reds and drinking whiskey by the handle. The album is a collection of moseying methodical melodies strung together by strong hard rock and blues guitar jams that come together seamlessly.

The beats are idyllic and steady, the melodies rhythmic and bluesy, and the vocals smoky and straightforward. Real and simple lyrics about booze, women, smoking and some of life’s little lessons lend a concrete credibility to the tunes, creating a nice steady flow of good strong tunes.

The track “Who I Are” leads off with a hard rock feel, a sound which is blended with swingin’ harmonica blues in the next track “Good Lookin’ Out”. The next couple tracks swing the blues rock balance back to hard rock in “Weight of the World”, and the fifth track is a groovy Uncle Cracker like tune called “Ball and Chain”. “Someday” introduces some funk into the album before the retrospective ballad “Got it Made” slows things down a bit, but not too much. The ninth and tenth track bring the demonophonic blues into the mix with the melodic tunes “No Pain” and “Gravity”. The band ends the album in style, jamming out to the Beasties, covering “Fight For Your Right”.

All in all the raspy dragon vocals of Tony C. and a strict allegiance to quality hard rock, funk, and blues rifts and melody makes for a solid listen and a non-compromising rugged sound. Good stuff all around. The album drops from Lava Records on March 23, 2004.

2004 1-42 Online