The Workhorse Movement

Sons of the Pioneers (Roadrunner)
by Brian Varney

This is one that immediately intrigued me, I must admit. The first song is called “Keep the Sabbath Dream Alive” and the back cover contains the epigram “Ushering in a New Age of Psychedelic Sounds.” And on a Roadrunner record! In fact, such was my intrigue that I read the press kit before I listened to the album. I usually refrain from the practice because, frankly, I don’t have much interest in reading what the band members have to say about themselves. But because I was having trouble figuring out The Workhorse Movement‘s angle, I read the press, and, as usual, I almost immediately regretted it. It was full of revolutionary foo-fah about the band challenging societal norms and the status quo and other bad stuff. “Oh great,” I muttered to myself, “commies.” So my mood is already bad, right? And when I got to the part where the guitarist (whose name is Freedom, I noticed through a stifled snicker) claims, “I think we belong on stage with Led Zeppelin in ’69 as much as Limp Bizkit today,” I got to sharpening my carving knife.

Imagine my surprise when, after all of the big talk and namedropping, they sound like Korn. Free thinkers or not, they sound like a million other funk metal bands that are out there right now. Awareness of cool stuff or no, they still play funk metal by numbers. Not well, either.

Well, maybe I’m going too far. They don’t just stick to funk metal — there are experiments with R&B, jazz, and soul as well (apparently the guitarist studied jazz guitar in college). However, such experimentation, as usual, does more harm than good. By trying to do too much, they end up accomplishing nothing. Faith No More they ain’t. Sons of the Pioneer is a mile wide and half an inch deep. That’s not even enough to get your shoes wet.
(902 Broadway, 8th Fl. New York, NY 10010)