SUNDAY CLASSIC GTC: SKUNKMELLO – Highway 17 [Hot Chicken, LP]
Skunkmello – Hot Chicken is available at Bandcamp.
by Walter Price
My mind sometimes finds suspicion in honky-tonk music coming out of New York City. Certainly unfair for sure. and then all of a sudden, there’s Brooklyn’s Skunkmello.
There is an indelible bluesy element in their music, as their bio suggests, but what is more prevalent in the outfit’s sounds is an obvious alt-country with a hushed rockabilly coolness you’d find all over Dallas and Austin in the late part of the 1900s. I find absolute comfort in this sound.
For example, check out the track “Highway 17” from their forthcoming album Hot Chicken due June 10th [2016]. The earnest slow draw soul of the track stays in line with what one would drool over if this modern-nostalgic sound was their thing, and it’s mine in droves. And do I think these players are true to the sub-genre, I do. Add in the fact I couldn’t resist poppin’ a top in mid-afternoon and the circle is complete.
So; if you dig your music someplace between Old 97’s, Junior Brown, or even a lil slice of The Rev Horton Heat then you’ll find dive bar solace in Skunkmello.
[28. May 2016]
SKUNKMELLO Highway 17
+ Hot Chicken
Band photo by AJ Ferrer
Art by Jason Felton
Photo & Album Design by AJ Ferrer
Recorded/Mixed by Ed Cuervo
Matt Bartlett
Ed Cuervo
Jono Ori
A little help from our friends:
Jason Holt (Bass), Mark Masefield (Hammond B3), Shoheen Owhady (Keys), Roman Urbanski (Backup Vocals), Glenn Spivack (Pedal Steel)
Produced by Ed and Skunkmello
facebook / website / instagram
“Distilled from primal street-slop into a potent brew of high-octane rock and roll, Skunkmello was born of sordid circumstances, brutal affairs, and high-proof late-night frenzies in the acrid warehouses that line the East River. Now, to those with the mental acuity to know better, the particular details are no longer important. It’s vibrantly clear that after many years of late nights, lost shoes, and last calls, Skunkmello endures as among New York City’s hardest hitting and rowdy rock and roll bands – not from concentrate, and not for the faint of heart.” – bio