Lamont

Muscle, Guts and Luck (Underdogma)
by Brian Varney

Back once again in the material world, much like the mythical phoenix or last night’s whiskey following this morning’s vomit comets, Lamont is once again a band. For the lucky few who caught their tour with Orange Goblin a coupla years back and picked up the tour-only EP they were selling at those shows, five of the six songs on Muscle, Guts and Luck will sound really familiar. But the songs have been re-recorded and mixed and mastered for maximum fatness here. And, as a quick bit of subtraction will confirm, there’s also a new track included, “Burn It Down.”

If you’ve heard a previous Lamont release, you know what to expect from Muscle, Guts and Luck. For those out of the know, Lamont coined the term (and titled their second album) “thunderboogie,” which describes their own sound better than any number of words could ever hope to do. The term “boogie,” at some etymological level, is a euphemism for fucking. And although Lamont’s sound is louder and rooted in other musical genres (old-school metal roots show, especially live), the side-to-side motion apparent in even their fastest rhythms will draw a sexual image to mind.

In the simplest terms possible, Lamont’s music can be described as hard rock and roll with a heavy dose of R&B. The type of R&B far removed from the slow-jam crap classified as such these days, this is R&B from the Stax/Volt and Atlantic days, the type of R&B that spurned bands like Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, and other rock heavyweights. These bands collectively function as the cool older uncle to Lamont, the one who teaches you about hip music, who teaches you what’s cool and what’s not, and buys you beer when your folks aren’t around.
(www.underdogma.com)