Primevil "Smokin' Bats at Campton's"

So after writing the previous Truth and Janey review, I decided that I'd continue on this little tour of the "Old Heavy" of the American Midwest and talk a little about this very obscure little monster called Primevil.   These Midwestern stoners hailed from Indiana and put out "Smokin' Bats at Campton's" in 1974 as a limited edition private pressing.  I see that it has now been rereleased on Radio-Active records and is available on cd.   Don't know much about these guys, but they definitely seemed to have a sense of humor.  On the album cover underneath Primevil, it says  "baddest band what am" and Dave Campton is credited with Vocals as well as Electric Chair.

Musically, after starting off like a late 60's acoustic hippy psyche trip, things start to rock with tight fully modern 70's riffing, sounding kind of southern rockish fueled with a couple shots of Leafhound.
By the second song, "Progress", we're undeniably kickin' it 70's style with high octane bluesy grooves.
Things lag a bit with "Fantasies" which is a lightweight instrumental ballad that I tend to skip over despite the nice guitar soloing.  "Pretty Woman" ratchets things back up, sounding like a southern rock version of Buffalo,  Campton's vocals reminding me especially of Dave Tice.   In fact a lot of this is record brings to mind "Only Want You For Your Body"-era Buffalo.

"Progress"

The high and tight riffing continues for 3 of the 4 remaining songs.  "Tell Me If You Can"  rocking mightily into  a stoned space out jam in the middle.  "Hey Lover" and "High Steppin' Stomper" both showcasing the bands wacky sense of humor.  The former sounding like a twisted atonal Doobie Brothers as done by Buffalo (it is actually a very cool tune, even though my description maybe doesn't make it sound like it).  And "High Steppin' Stomper" utilizing actual stomping to help drive it through the verse.  The album closes with "Your Blues," which is exactly what you might think it is - a straight ahead slow blues.  This one's a little too far into "blues jam"-land for me.  It's pretty tame and really is a bit pedestrian.  If they had taken it up a notch, like Taste's "Catfish Blues," then it would've been greatness.  But alas...

In the end, you've got 6 of 8 solid rockers, with 4 of those fueled by genuine first class riffage.  That's as good a percentage as you get on a lot of records from the 70's.

Riff Density- 7
Riff Caliber- 8
Post Blues Factor- 8
Groove Factor- 8
Dig It-8

Truth and Janey "Erupts" 1976

This obscure smoldering slab of molten rock came hurtling through the 70's worm hole from the great American Midwest, Iowa, to be exact, thanks to the Rock and Roll archaeology of Monster Records, who released this live recording for the first time in 2004.  Truth and Janey, one of a handful of heavy rock shoulda beens from the Midwest (Granicus, Energy and Primevil to name a few others),  were a short lived power trio consisting of Billy Janey on guitar,  Steve Bock, bass, and Denis Bunce on the drums.  They released a couple of singles and a self-financed limited pressing of the full length LP studio recording "No Rest For The Wicked", all of which has since been rereleased on Monster Records. Erupts is a recording of a blistering live performance of the band recorded April 8, 1976 at the Col Ballroom in Davenport, Iowa.

Sweet Firebird, Billy!

"Birth to the Heart"

This is unapologetic, long-haired, Dashiki-wearin' rock and roll that is equal parts Hendrix, Robin Trower and Cactus mixed with a bit of Prog and a bit of 70's FM radio rock.  Sonically, for a low budget live recording, this sounds pretty good.  There are some spots where the guitar disappears, but overall, it's a very urgent and exciting recording with a slammin' overdriven Ampeg bass sound that powers this entire beast from below (I don't think he's actually playing through an Ampeg based on what I can see in pictures, but it's got that type of sound).    Like Grand Funk but nastier.  The guitar sounds are also beautifully fuzzy and filthy, with nary a clean guitar to be found.  This record sounds like they were just absolutely cranked live.  Must've been like that old Memorex (or was it Maxell) ad where your hair is blown back by the sheer weight of the sound if you were standing in front of the stage for this gig.  Musically, the songs are quite complex structurally, with lots of changes and different sections.  A lot of the grooves are of the funkier Robin Trower or Energy/Tommy Bolin vibe. Often the verse/chorus sections linger in the pop rock world and then they bust into some heavier instrumental sections.  One of my favorite things about this record is the tendency on most songs to break down into a hard-as-nails vamp section, a la ZZ Top, for Billy Janey to unleash some guitar wizardry over.

The album starts with a dark, menacing guitar cadenza that breaks into the chugging, churning "No Rest for the Wicked."  "Birth to the Heart," the second song is one of the best jams of the set.  It's got a slow, funky groove, kind of Energy/Trower-ish that eventually leads to one of the aformentioned breakdown/vamp sections with some bitchin' soloing.  This song, like many Truth and Janey songs, has extended sections where they're just grooving on a string of riffs.  "Universal Light" fluctuates between heavy riffing and radio friendly "deep cuts" rock before devolving into an elephantine bass groove/guitar solo ending.  This pretty much remains the modus operandi for the rest of the record - alternation of some pretty heavy riffing, FM rock verses/choruses, and monstrous vamps.  So, basically, if you're not digging the poppy verses, hang with it, because the bottom'll drop out and you'll soon find yourself immersed in high voltage fuzzy goodness.
The eight minute "Tunnel of Tomorrow" is another of my faves, detouring into Budgie-like greasy bass vamp-land a couple minutes in and staying there for  a long time before breaking into a proto-NWOBHM gallop to finish it off.  Also worthy of mention is the ZZ Top boogie of "White Bread", complete with, you guessed it, a ZZ Top style solo vamp.  The fiery version the Mississippi John Hurt song "Ain't No Tellin" is the only cover song on the album.

The playing of all three guys is wicked and the communication between them perfect.  Clearly they're used to lots of jamming together.  There are loads of intense, fanatical Cactus-like moments throughout with powerful drumming and Bogert-Geezer bass gymnastics underneath.  

There are some times where the vocals aren't quite making it, which must be forgiven in a live recording, but can be distracting from the greatness.  Both Janey and Steve Bock handle lead vocal duties.  I'm not sure who is singing what, but on some of the bluesier songs, the vocals are more of a Leslie West style and sound killer.  The songs that more melodically complex are the songs that don't quite hang vocally with everything else that's going on.  Small complaint though.
If you dig the old heavy, then you will dig this.

Riff Density- 8 (could be a 10 except for the poppy sections of some songs)
Riff Caliber- 8
Post Blues Factor- 10
Groove Factor- 10
Dig It-8