5 out of 5

Label: Tortuga

Produced by: Scissorfight?

Man, nobody did it – or does it – like classic Scissorfight.  Even starting from the band name, which might conjure images of a fight ‘tween grown man wielding various paper-cutting instruments… or maybe of a particular sex act, the early albums by Ironlung and crew straddled the line of self-awareness perfectly when concocting their beer-swilling, burping, fightin’, bike-riding, metal-stoner-rock-playin’ identity, grinding out the ultimate riffs to match other dudes in the scene while offering up tracks which combined the best of anthemic choruses with willfully, stupidly manly lyrics… and monkeys.  And by adding those dashes of wit that let you know they were in on the joke – but, like, also wanted to rock – it allowed them to build up to something a little more nuanced and developed for their swansong release, Jaggernaut.

But, hey, here in the past, we also have New Hampshire, shaping up the raw edge of their Wonderdrug releases into something slightly more accessible, but a step shy of the comparatively precise attack of Mantrapping, i.e.: essentially a perfect frikkin’ record.

Every track on New Hampshire hits with a memorable grind, and paired with the album name, the songs absolutely create a sense of place and identity and story – ‘The Ballad Of Jacco Macacco‘, ‘Cycloptic Skull‘; these already read like barroom vignettes you’d want to hear, and the songs themselves don’t slip on this expectation one bit.

Scissorfight, near from the start, mastered the art of sounding badass and ridiculous at the same time, something you can both respectfully headbang to and ironically do the same, if so inclined.  After finagling with harsher tones on early discs, New Hampshire – their Tortuga debut – delivered 11 perfect tracks of Southern stoner rock bliss.