Stuck Mojo
Rising (Century Media)
by Scott Hefflon
Century Media’s #1 selling band (in America) returns, and, as the (for a change, informative) hype-sheet claims, “This Mojo is truly rising.” Stuck Mojo were impressive (yet too cleanly produced) on ’95’s Snappin’ Necks, when judged as a youthful band whose last few songs were their best. With Pigwalk, the men of Mojo enlisted top producers Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah) and Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, all-around-zany-guy), and, to be honest, I spent far more time marveling at the sound of it, than actually listening to it. I trust that in there somewhere are some wonderfully chomping rhythms, some ring-ring-dingiddy-dong raps, and talented drumming enough to keep future generations of stick-twirlers sweatin’ in their basements where they belong.
With Rising, Stuck Mojo really begins to come into their own. (Does it really take three records, fellas?) Finally, Bonz’s rap-and-roar style and the distorted demon belches blend comfortably, in most cases not sounding spliced in the least. They complement one another, as I’m sure they always intended. Another new addition is the swamp-boogie styling. While, admittedly, I got sick of suburban metal bands from the Northeast who’d never even seen a swamp (riding yer dirt bike through some puddles at the construction site down the street from your housing development doesn’t count) playing the down-and-dirty shuffle when Down and COC gained notoriety in the early ’90s, Stuck Mojo do it well. They’re from Georgia, and that’s close enough to Louisiana for me.