Colorado blues rockers Big Head Todd and the Monsters keep it real - and real funky - on their just released ninth studio album Rocksteady. The record is anchored by its first single “Beautiful,” which is already making beautiful noise on radio stations nationwide. Longtime BHTM fans will feel right at home listening to Rocksteady, and newcomers getting into the band for the first time will wonder what took them so long!
Sonic Boom Boom: Perhaps best known for their on-point interpretation of the John Lee Hooker blues standard “Boom Boom” and additional radio standouts “Resignation Superman” and “Please Don’t Tell Her” (all originally found on 1997’s Beautiful World), BHTM frontman and main songwriter Todd Park Mohr describes Rocksteady as “a soul/Caribbean record that rocks.” You can be forgiven if you’re scratching your head wondering exactly what Mohr means; perhaps what he’s trying to say is that the band went into the recording of the new album with a, well, less is Mohr attitude. “We almost went out of our way to take all the rock out of it, but it really rocks.”
If you’re still shaking your head, put on the album and one listen to its title track (and opening cut) will clear up any confusion. The song glides along, giving you the sensation of sitting on the balcony of a mountain cabin, a cup of coffee in hand, staring out at the smooth surface of a gorgeous glassy lake on a sumptuous summer morning. Then, before reaching for that second cup, “Beautiful,” the second track and first single, envelops you with its hypnotic harmonica, rapturous rhythm, and luscious lyric (“That I long for her as the sailors for the sea/or the tall trees for the morning sun”).
As with every BHTM release, Rocksteady features a Rocky Mountain-sized sample of sounds; from their tough-as-nails basic blues rendition of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightnin’” to the easy breezy acoustic cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden;” the soulful, brass-based R&B rooted “I Hate it When You’re Gone” to the dreamy “Fake Diamond Kind.” “We’ve always been a versatile group with a wide range of influences and so our albums tend to be an eclectic mix of different genres of music,” Mohr explains.
Yet despite the myriad musical styles that permeate Rocksteady, Mohr says fans can expect an even more eclectic encore soon. “We went into the studio and recorded over thirty songs. So we set aside some of the harder rock stuff in order to focus on a soulful, danceable sound.” And as always, Big Head Todd and the Monsters are on the road playing new and old songs for the people that matter most: the fans. “The quality of the relationship between the fans and the band is the most important aspect of our career,” says Mohr. “We still try to play every request. We listen to our audience and do whatever we can to acknowledge that relationship.” And there’s nothing better in life than having a Rocksteady relationship.
Monsters Bash: Kick back and enjoy an intimate live in-studio performance of “Beautiful”:
As A Matter of Fact…
* The members of Big Head Todd and the Monsters include Todd Park Mohr (vocals, guitar), Rob Squires (bass), Brian Nevin (drums), and Jeremy Lawton (keyboards, lap steel guitar, backing vocals).
* Mohr, Squires and Nevin formed BHTM in 1986 at the University of Colorado.
* The band’s last studio album, 2008’s All the Love You Need, was released as a free download; over 500,000 copies were downloaded worldwide.
* BHTM have 2010 tour dates lines up through October 1 in Buffalo, NY, and 2011 shows already inked for April 14 and 15 in St. Cloud, MN.