Blacktop Mojo
By Mike O’Cull
Southern grunge rock merchants Blacktop Mojo come roaring at us once again on their new self-titled release Blacktop Mojo. The record dropped August 13th, 2021 via Sand Hill Records/Cuhmon Records and shows the band at the top of their form in every way. It’s Blacktop Mojo’s fourth full-length album to date and finds the Palestine, Texas-based outfit hitting an impressive creative stride and flexing muscles most bands don’t even know they have. The sound is a highly-combustible swirl of Texas groove metal, grunge and classic rock, and the group’s own ideas about what rock and roll should be in 2021. It’s built upon epic, stadium-rocking beats, immense guitar riffs, and fired-up, intelligent vocals that speak directly to today’s audience. Blacktop Mojo is a cultural force and uses this new album to scream what a lot of us are feeling.
Blacktop Mojo has been going hard since 2012, when vocalist Matt James and drummer Nathan Gillis first put a lineup together. They began putting out records in 2014 to much acclaim and hit the Billboard Top 40 more than once. Blacktop Mojo has performed with major artists including Bon Jovi, Candlebox, and Puddle of Mudd, and made an appearance on Sammy Hagar’s “Rock & Roll Road Trip’ on AXS TV. Even after all of this, the band members still live communally in a shared house and keep their own sphere of artistry alive. These days, the band also includes guitarists Chuck Wepfer and Ryan Kiefer and bassist Matt Curtis. They’re a five-piece rock machine with a bone-crunching vibe and the skills to scale the music world’s highest peaks.
Blacktop Mojo opens with the absolutely slamming “Wicked Woman,” as powerful a rock song as any ever written. It packs a beautifully muscular, blues-informed riff, blasting drums, and a tale of the dark arts into its four-minute run time and is worth the cost of an album all on its own. Matt James’ voice is a musical power tool, cutting through the band and flying high. His tone is spot-on for rock and roll and he throws down hard here and throughout the album. Chuck Wepfer and Ryan Kiefer are a guitar team not to be trifled with, cranking out tough rhythms and shred-approved solos that take the track to rock’s Promised Land. All of this combined will lay you out and pick you back up with the power of music and it’s only the first song.
Watch “Wicked Woman”
“Bed Tundy” is a soul-chilling heavy rock cut that seems to be an interior monologue by serial killer Ted Bundy. It’s a dramatic track that does a good job of staying in character as it churns and grinds. Wepfer and Kiefer turn in another fine two-guitar performance and have that extra, unspoken something between them that weaves their individual parts together in all the important places. Definitely cool and a lot of good, clean, scary fun, this one. It’s going to be a must for any Halloween playlist this year.
“Jealousy” taps into a soulful acoustic guitar vibe as it begins but it isn’t long before it’s explosive, angst-ridden chorus hits maximum intensity. It’s a killer, moody rock diamond that communicates its desired emotion and puts on a show all at once. James sells the lyrics in a pretty amazing way and allows you to feel every word. “Do It For The Money” is chugging, sludge metal of the Sabbath variety welded to a hit-single chorus and filled with ripping guitars and soaring vocals. It’s deep in the album’s sequence of tunes so don’t miss it because it’s one of the best tracks included here. Other you-know-what kickers you’re going to want to get down with include the righteous Southern Rock jam “Hold Me Down” and the atmospheric final song “Tail Lights.”
Blacktop Mojo is a stellar modern rock outfit, full stop, and this new eponymous set of music is world-class and needs to be heard. Go listen!
Blacktop Mojo order link
My favorite new band that I just found- thanks to Martine and this group. Bought all of their cd’s and then they had to cancel in St Louis last week due to bus problems. They should be played all over the radio but we all know corporate radio sucks. Rock On!!