CD Review Tug Fork River Band – Catch for Us the Metal
Artist: Tug Fork River Band
CD Title: Catch for us the Metal
Style: Agressive Hard Rock
Website: http://www.myspace.com/thetugforkriverband
Purchase: http://woundedrecordsstore.bigcartel.com/
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Playlist
1. Catch for us the Metal
2. Canadian Geese ain’t American
3. A Cry to all Nations
4. Bad Intentions for a Billy Goat
5. Gravedigger
6. Pound, Explode, Pound, Pound, Explode
7. Amazing Grace (House of the Rising Sun)
8. Bleeding Tree
9. Date of Birth
10. Duct Tape Fixes Errthing
11. Metal the Us for Catch
Awhile back the nice people at Wounded records set it up so I could interview the Tug Fork River band, and you can read the interview here. at that time they talked about finishing up recording their next CD. Well I’m happy to say that I have that CD in my hot little hands (well actually my hands aren’t all that little and the CD is in the CD player) So since I had the so recently been in contact with Justin from Tug Fork River Band I sent him and email and asked him a few questions about the CD, So before I go on and give you my review I just wanted to share with you that little question and answer session.
What is the inspiration behind the CD and the CD artwork?
The main inspiration for the CD is obviously God and His love. Everything comes back to that as far as music and lyrics. As far as the artwork, we went with the idea based upon the title ‘Catch For Us The Metal’ that we were the ‘Metal’ and there were people out to catch us. There are two men on the cover out to get us (they are actually two of our dads). The back of the booklet is where they have caught and killed us. We’re in the back of a pickup truck. The CD is the buried graves, and when you lift the CD you can see our bodies in the graves. It was just a fun idea that we had and it was freezing cold when we took all those pictures in our t-shirts so we hope people dig it! Get it….dig it?
How did you come up with title?
We came up with the title as a joke really. Our last album ‘The Dirty Dirty’ was a play on Everytime I Die’s last album ‘The Big Dirty’. Our new album ‘Catch For Us The Metal’ is a play on mewithoutyou’s albume ‘Catch For Us The Foxes’. We’re just stupid like that. haha.
Is there a story behind the song “A cry to all nations?”
The story behind ‘A Cry To All Nations’ is pretty much expained in the lyrics. It is a true story of a Muslim girl who wanted more in life and discovered Christ through researching on the internet. She gave her life to Him. Her parents found out and were extremely against it. They believed that if she died before a certain amount of time that she would remain Muslim, so they killed her. A line from the song sums up what we believe though: But little do they know Allah doesn’t own her soul. It belongs to Christ and she reigns with him tonight.
Now with that out of the way lets get to what you are all here for. The Review. Now perhaps what I liked the most about this CD is the very thing that I think so many other CD’s that are made in the Hard Rocking style get wrong. The Guys from Tug Fork managed to get the seriously hard rocking sound without the Overdose of Screaming that I find so often in other CD’s of the same style. I have always viewed the use of ‘the scream’ as more of an instrument than part of the Lyrics. A Hard rocking Band that relies on ‘the scream’ is (to me) the same as a band that relies on the Guitar Solo.
The one weakness that I felt with this CD is, again, a common failing with this style and if your like me (older and an attendant are way to many loud cranking rock concerts) you will understand what I mean when I say that several times I had no way (without looking up the lyrics on the CD insert) of knowing what the boys were singing about. I could follow along with the CD insert but I just prefer to know what the words are when I first hear the CD. This I have found is a minor and common problem and is perhaps more a sign of my age than a weakness in the CD.
Overall I find the CD a pleasure to listen to and with a version of ‘Amazing Grace’ set to and mixed with ‘The house of the rising sun’ as well as songs with names like Pound, Explode, Pound, Pound, Explode and Duct Tape Fixes Errthing it is pretty clear that this CD is as much about the idea of having fun as it all about God and Christ. Perhaps one of the best things I appreciate about the Cd is that it is crystal clear to anyone who wants to look that the guys in Tug Fork River Band are unashamed about their faith.
I’m Giving the CD a 3.75 out of 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed the CD as whole and several of the songs individually.
