Monster Truck’s 2013 record, Furiosity, was one of the year’s standouts — it won a JUNO award in Canada. Living up to both the band’s name and the album’s title, and loaded With pummelling blues-influenced hard rock riffs, the band came out of seemingly nowhere and surprised everybody — including Slash (of Guns N’ Roses fame) and Alice in Chains. In fact, Slash and Alice in Chains (among others) both took the band on tour, giving them the seal of approval from some of rock’s oldest stalwarts.
And undoubtedly, the band has learned from those experiences. Their aptly-titled sophomore album, Sittin’ Heavy, finds the brand tightening up their brand of rock ‘n’ roll. Their vocal harmonies are better, their riffs are more defined, and their musical vocabulary is broader.
Songs like For The People find the band experimenting with country-influenced tones, and the lead single Don’t Tell Me How To Live is carried by a massive, undoubtedly Alice-in-Chains-inspired riff. Things Get Better feels like bar-blues hard rock, a style they’d only flirted with on Furiosity.
And while the band certainly hasn’t quieted down, they’ve learned how to hold back for the sake of the song’s structures. Black Forest (a Zeppelin-influenced track if I’ve ever heard one), and Another Man’s Shoes (Alice again, particularly in the bass line), both experiment with pulling back on the rhythm guitar and giving the bass centre attention.
Most importantly though, Monster Truck is as confident as ever. That confidence sells the record and makes its raw energy palpable despite its glossy, near-perfect production. Monster Truck is aiming for the ceiling with Sittin’ Heavy, and they darn near blow it off.