When I wrote about The Izzys from NYC over a year ago I thought that’d be the last of them (I have that effect on bands) but they’ve shaken off the S:I curse and resurfaced with a new record. At the time I also thought they were maybe a bit of a one trick pony; able to play stonesy, r&b-fueled rock but little else. I was wrong about that too, sure on “Madman Sleeps” the guitars rage and the lead singer struts his stuff (vocally that is), but on the title track, “The Violent Bear It All Away”, the band works the other, subtler side, of the same coin. On “The Violent…” they mix The Band’s organic earth-tones and slightly groovy guitar/organ interplay with their British Invasion rawk.
The Violent Bear It All Away comes out Oct. 16 on Fat Man Records, but is available as a digital download or a cd here.
I don’t know. I listen to “The Madman Sleeps” and I can hear is Jack Black in “School of Rock.” I like it, but that’s what I hear.
The Violent Bear It Away is hands down the best album of the past year!