Coyote rock septet
Wiskey Biscuit have been together for over a decade, but this is their first self-released full-length effort and an excellent intro to the much loved L.A. band. Singer Jason Mason's meandering upper-register warble is adaptable to a wide topography of rockish styles represented; the album comes across like a lo-fi indie rock Exile on Main Street, blending cosmic American country-rock and swaggering bluesy riffs with early-'80s Cali punk and indie sensibilities. "I Like Sleeping" is the slacker anthem that everyone thought
Beck's "Loser" was (but wasn't).
Beachwood Sparks/
Tyde lap steeler Farmer Dave Scher shines on the country-blues "Fallin' on Your Face." The moody organ-driven "Out of the Dark" and "Stoner Girl" are other standouts. "Dada Munchamonkey" (
Ed Ruscha, Jr.) also appears on synth. Through it all,
Wiskey Biscuit have managed to take the sharecroppin', ass-whoopin' Texas country-blues of musicians like
Mance Lipscomb and
Lightnin' Hopkins to heart, adding Hammond organ and the occasional accordion riff to create their own brand of raunch and rumble electric blues. ~ Bryan Thomas