Nashville Pussy
Up The Dosage
(Steamhammer)

Slow scary organ rolls into a slashing guitar power chunker (and I do mean ‘chunker’ as the slight snare drum drag gets in the way) of opener “Everybody’s Fault But Mine,” but I do like the hopping riffery of “Rub It To Death” as the “cowpunk” assault of this second tune is more in keeping with what I feel Nashville Pussy is about on this new CD of theirs and in general.

“The South’s Too fat To Rise Again” has everything: great title; Jeremy Thompson’s nearly drumming too fast for what the rest of the band is playing; lead guitar player Ruyter Suys battling her way up and around hubby Blaine Cartwright’s rhythm guitar; even female backing vocals are evident to serve this quick little ditty spot-on. Cartwright channels Iggy Pop with his talking vocal on “Before The Drugs Wear Off,” another great tune with female backing vocals, wacky lyric, straight ahead beat and Suys playing straight and clear…there’s even honky tonk piano on this one. And while we get a ZZ Top like roll on “Beginning of the end,” the title tracks blistering hard rock slasher that goes no place, the mandolin stomper “Hooray For Cocaine, Hooray For Tennessee” is a fun nasty country song.

Bass and drums mix perfectly on the loud “PillBilly” as nasty as this quartet gets with Suys wailing but “Pussy’s Not a Dirty Word,” though not breaking any new ground does see the band marching full force ahead, a dirty guitar power chord ender where we are reminded “No matter what you heard, pussy’s not a dirty word.”