Veteran stoner/fuzz bluesists deliver the goods on their latest, Love Like Machines.

On their Bandcamp page, the band describes their music this way: psychedelic blues rock from the delta that sounds similar to a skeleton driving a speed boat on a flaming Mississippi River headed back to 1969. I can buy it. I have a tendency to think of anything remotely doomy as desert music, but I can hear the river in this, and I can smell the swamp from here. Love Like Machines is the band’s fourth full-length studio album, and they get stronger with every new set.

The album starts off with the beautiful, poetic “Anabasis” – a quiet acoustic intro and exit together hold in a rumbling thunder of softly growling guitars. It is an aperitif. The next song, “Made for the Age,” launches with a piercing, probing rhythm shot that rolls into a steady hard-driving rocker with a convincing lead break. And there is no looking back after that – next is my favorite song of the set, “Hand of Bear.” It has a Clutch catchiness with a heavier vibe and with more distortion and fuzz. The title of the album comes from the song, “Late Night,” where we find out what love like machines means (I’ll let you discover that on your own). Another stand out track is “God Damn Wolf Man” with even more hooky guitars, raw lead work, and memorable lyrics:

Well god damn the Wolf Man/look what you made me do/I guess your hatred and your vitriol/finally got the best of you

Well fuck yeah Dr. Frankenstein/that what you want me to say?/’cause you are so much worse in your heart of hearts/than the monsters you create

Well calm down Count Dracula/and get your money all made/and I’ll do my best not to let you down/but I can’t work for free

The back catalogue of the band is excellent, and you should take a streaming dive into it at your earliest opportunity. I have favorites reaching back to their first album, but I have to say I do like this new one best overall. It is a heavy dose of the Cure For What Ails You all the way through. Recommended.

Love Like Machines is out March 27, 2020 at all the usual places, plus a limited CD and vinyl release from Kozmik Artifactz (link below). The band has a few live dates listed on their Facebook page, notably Stoned and Dusted at Pappy & Harriet’s in May (assuming we are all back in the world again by then).

Links.

Band, https://www.theheavyeyes.com/

Bandcamp, https://theheavyeyesmemphis.bandcamp.com/

Twitter, https://twitter.com/TheHeavyEyes

Kozmik Artifactz, https://kozmik-artifactz.com/