Muddy Moonshine
Are We There Yet?

They ask themselves if they are there yet, I ask myself the same thing when playing through this album of Finnish southern rock. You know, the kind of rock that is inspired by the American south, places like Louisiana or Alabama, places of inbreeding, and a medieval view on human rights. At least they had some skills in making music, there are some good ones in the southern rock style where ZZ-Top probably is the most famous.

This is akin to that southern style with the band’s own flair I suppose, some of it at least. The songs are mostly about drinking alcoholic beverages, it is certainly not musical poetry. It is a bit long, and I grow a bit weary after about half of the 51 minutes it plays for. But I believe about 30-35 minutes could have been quite alright for an album like this. The singer is good for the genre, as is the production, the variation leaves more to be desired, and it is not very original, neither has it any depth to speak of. It is an album for simpletons.

It is quite accessible and it will probably not scare anyone out of the room, and that is what I think is what they were aiming for – background music for the bar, the barbecue, something like that. And I think it will work well for such occasions, listening to the album is a bit more strenuous, at least to pay attention as the mind tends to drift elsewhere quite a lot. I think the conclusion is that the album works, and if you like the style, like bands mentioned as similar within the constraints of this review, then you will probably find this album quite agreeable.

It is good enough to check out, and it is inoffensive enough to go down well with a larger crowd. It is not a timeless classic though, for that you need some original thinking, and that is missing here. And with that I can simply conclude that it is an accessible solid effort that will probably be accepted by most people that hear it.

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