Heavy Mother - This Time Around (2022) Hi-Res

Hey kidz, this is yer Uncle Big Dad talkin’ at ya. The staff over at Feel It Records asked if I’d say something about this debut elpee from Heavy Mother. Damn! I remember rumors of a band by that name way back when I was still alive—roamin’ the Deep South and Lower Midwest. This current crop looks a little young to be the same group, if they even existed back then. But I do remember the singer Eddie Flowers when he was a shut-in Alabama weirdo writing for fanzines as a kid in the 70s. So maybe he knew the supposed original Heavy Mother? I dunno. I do know that he went on to make some records with the original proto-punk Gizmos in Bloomington, Indiana. That was like 1976/77, if I remember correctly. And then he had a psychodelik noise improv thing in L.A. called Crawlspace that went on for more decades than I survived. But these other whipper-snappers? They ain’t that old. The guitar player Mark McWhirter and bassist Zack Worcel (aka Chode) were in a long-running Bloomington R&R band called the Cowboys. They even did some stuff for Feel It Records. Mark was also in ABC Gum for a couple years there. And Chode had his own punky trio called the Chud (don’t think they were named after the classic C.H.U.D. flick). On the skins, or drums as you squares call ’em, is Mr. Clarke Joyner. He was in the original Bloomington lineup of Circuit Des Yeux (which I hope translates as Circus Of Y’all) and once blew some sax with Thee Open Sex. Are you bored yet? My coffin’s gettin’ cold—doctor told me to take it easy after I passed away in 1994.

This here Heavy Mother debut album—you can only call it “a vinyl” if yer under 30 or mentally deficient—is called THIS TIME AROUND. Does that mean there’s a next time around? Too many questions I can’t answer in my decomposing state. They got some good’uns on here like “I Know There’s No Answer” (not a Beach Boys song) and “Eenie Meenie” (many of their songs seem to be based on nursery rhymes) and “Government Phone” (for all you po’ folks who still got yer Obamaphones). They got a song that pokes fun at billionaire space programs (“Dicks in Space!”) and another about the pandemic lifestyle (“Monkeys and Goats”). Not to mention some real classics like “Louie Louie” and Eddie Holland’s “Leaving Here.” I like ’em all. There are 15 songs—so you got a lot to choose from. These boys got a bunch of influences. The obvious ones are like the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, and the Sonics. But they also dig Gary Stewart’s honky tonk, Mrs. Miller’s classical 60s recordings, and everything Sun Ra ever recorded.

Y’know, it’s GOOD! Better than anything I’ve heard since Schoolly D in the 80s. And they smoke some kill, just like he did. You should buy MULTIPLE copies of this Feel It Records release. Then maybe they’ll tour if they can get their guitarist Mark to come back from Mexico. Like the possibly original Heavy Mother from that mythical year of 1972, these Heavy Mothers were legends before they even wrote a song. And like me, they can’t be killed. Now I’m gonna take another toke and go back to sleep. Would you kindly throw some dirt clods on my grave and keep on rockin’? Peace, ya mofos!

— Big Dad (RIP)
Walker Springs, Alabama