Saturday, July 12, 2025

Neverland Ranch Davidians: "Shout It On The Mountain" (2025) CD Review

First of all, Neverland Ranch Davidians is a great band name. I enjoy playful (and meaningful) mashups like that, particularly in these twisted days of doom, when this country's scum has risen to the surface rather than sinking like it should. Don't you just want to scream? And laugh? Well, these guys are here for you. The band was formed in 2019, and is made up of Tex Mosley on guitar and vocals, Will Bentley on guitar and backing vocals, and Max Hagen on drums and backing vocals, with Gregory Boaz on bass on the new album. That new album, Shout It On The Mountain, is the band's second full-length release, following the self-titled 2023 album. Like the band's name, the music is a mashup of sorts, with punk meeting rhythm and blues for a wild and unhinged party. The album features mostly original material.

The album opens with a fun number titled "Swamp Feet," which features a solid beat and some strong vocal work, and a good deal of power. And then there is a surprising vocal section in the middle that I absolutely love. That of course gives the band the opportunity to then jump back in with full force, which these guys do. "Get on the dance floor and do the swamp feet." Well, all right! These guys are rocking out of the gate. That's followed by a cover of "Big Bird," written by Booker T. Jones and Eddie Floyd, and originally recorded by Eddie Floyd in 1968. As on that original recording, these guys echo some of the lines, such as "With me down here" and "And you up there." There is a great energy and a good amount of soul to this rendition. It's fun too. I am so glad folks are recording music like this.

"The Gripper" is an original number featuring lots of guitar, yet the vocals remain at the fore, never getting lost in the mix. "She's a gripper," we are told. Ah, what is it exactly that she has her grip on? Well, they tell us: "She's all dressed up in her birthday suit/Gripping my big toe in my boot/Gripping me up, gripping me down/I heard you've been gripping all over town." Yes, this is another fun track. Good rock music, not taking itself too seriously.  I dig that section where the drums carry us forward. That is so damn good! "Ah, that feels good." Indeed it does! And they spell, "G-R-I-P" like "Gloria." That's followed by another fun one, "Signified Monkey." Really, this music just has that special something that lets us shake off whatever garbage might be trying to attach itself to us, whatever might be trying to insist on its own importance, whatever crap this nation is embracing. "Don't let the door hit you in the ass." And, hey, just before the end, we are treated to a short drum solo, and then the line, "Good god, I feel so unnecessary."

"Shout It On The Mountain," the album's title track, features lyrics delivered in a spoken word style, telling us a story. "So I was in New York City when I see her at the soup kitchen." It is like we are hanging out, being told a story with some delicious bluesy accompaniment. "Shout it on the mountain/Shout it on the mountain/Shout it on the mountain/You're preaching to the choir." The story finds them on the sofa,  "watching the Legend Of Billy Jack." I have the Billy Jack boxed set, and I should revisit those movies (though I don't think any of them sports the title Legend Of Billy Jack). This song ends with a nice, heavy, bluesy jam. Then "Citizen Junkie" comes on with a great force, with more of a punk energy and sound, particularly to the vocal delivery, which has a good amount of anger. Interestingly, there is also some spoken word here. This track is very short song, less than two minutes, in keeping with the tradition of early punk songs.

I love the way the drums grab hold of me at the beginning of "Cactus Cooler Man." There is some solid rock action here, with punk elements, and everything is working so well. This is one of my personal favorites, and there is something playful about it. "If you don't know, you'd better ask somebody." By the way, on the back of the case this track is listed as "Cactus Cooler," and on the inside it is listed as "Cactus Cooler Man." So take your pick, I suppose. That is followed by "Don't Call Me." Here it is the bass line that gets me going. There is a great, mean vibe to this one, and some fantastic vocal work. "Call me a deadbeat/Call me a stupid asshole/Call me a jerk/Just don't call me anymore." This is another of the disc's highlights. It ends with a short guitar solo.

"Death Penalty In Texas" comes on with a delicious fiery energy, with some drumming that is ready to knock over anyone who gets in the way. This is one of those great numbers that make you want to hurl yourself around the room until you're bloody and delirious and feeling on top of the world. This instrumental track is so fucking good, and over much too soon (another track that is less than two minutes long). It's followed by "I Think I'm Positive," which has a wonderful groove. "I think I'm positive/I don't mean my attitude/I think I'm positive/I'm not feeling so good." Those lines are delivered as sort of spoken word, while that great groove carries the song along. "This is the third day/I'd better go get tested." There have been a lot of good songs that have come out of the pandemic, but I haven't heard any quite like this (before the pandemic, we might have assumed this song was about HIV). And when he gets his test results back, he screams. Perfect! I love this track. There is a moment when he sounds a bit like Screamin' Jay Hawkins, channeling that wild man. This track also contains some fantastic stuff on guitar. "I think I caught it on the train/It was packed that day/And I remember a guy sniffling." We all went through that, didn't we? Figuring out exactly where we got it. His reaction at the end might seem extreme, but keep paying attention, even as the track is fading out. This is the album's final original composition.

Neverland Ranch Davidians then deliver a good cover of "Orphan Boy," a song written by Larry Nestor and originally recorded by Half Pint And The Fifths in the mid-1960s. "Walking barefoot through the snow/Look for shelter, with no place to go/Begging for meals and riding the rail/Maybe I'd be better off in jail." That's followed by "Happy," a song written by Damon Strawn. "You say you're happy and everything is cool." But the way he sings those lines, we just don't believe that this person is happy. This is a good, slow punk number. The band then wraps up the album with a classic blues tune, Skip James' "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues." These guys deliver a heavy, powerful rendition. "Times are harder than before/While the rich man's getting richer/And the poor man's only poor/The people are divided/On just who is to blame." This is a good song to cover now, and this rendition seems like it might open a vein at any moment. "Some still think that there's a heaven/When all they know is hell."

CD Track List

  1. Swamp Feet
  2. Big Bird
  3. The Gripper
  4. Signified Monkey
  5. Shout It On The Mountain
  6. Citizen Junkie
  7. Cactus Cooler
  8. Don't Call Me
  9. Death Penalty In Texas
  10. I Think I'm Positive
  11. Orphan Boy
  12. Happy
  13. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Dirty)

Shout It On The Mountain was released on March 7, 2025 on Heavy Medication Records.

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