Churchwood – Insaaaaane!
Frank Gutch Jr.
Posted On November 18, 2016
It’s called pushing the envelope and there are few bands out there that do it better than Churchwood. They are not alone, what with Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers shakin’ the shacks and The Supersuckers adding their bit of insanity in between twangs. Hell, there are probably a lot of bands out there pushin’ like crazy, but few do it as well as (didn’t I say this before?) Churchwood. Cartoon music (as in all of those weirded out puppies they used to play on kids TV shows with skeletons and shots of wavering tonsils and all). Beat poetry gone ballistic. Rockin’ R&B gone awry. The Devil’s Music…
They’re just short of nuts. I know because I keep reminding Joe Doerr, the band’s frontman, and he doesn’t deny it. And when he spews, because at times that is exactly what he does, he spews in tongues. Satanic. Raw.
He ain’t the only one neither. Maybe the spewin’ part, but not the music. Graveyard, it is. Haunted. And it should surprise no one. That’s one powerful unit they put together. Like Fast Eddie used to say… insaaaaaaane!
None of the above songs are from the new album. In fact, I’m surprised I even found out about it. Every time I write about the band I tell Doerr to let me know ahead of time when the next album is ready for release. Sure thing, he says, then goes off to record and forgets all about everything else. No wonder. The music kills brain cells.
It’s Doerr’s voice, part of it. And the songwriting. And the blood meat rawness of the rhythm section, how even when they don’t seem to be doing much they really are. And the guitar, which at times absolutely hates to hit the standard chords or notes.
I’m like Fast Eddie. Insaaaaane! I figure the reason they don’t put The Shack Shakers and Churchwood on the same bill is that it would throw the Earth off its axis. The way things are going, maybe that’s not a bad idea.
The band is Churchwood, folks. The album is Hex City. The music is insane. Or almost, anyway.
