Concentrated E'Ville: 6 Day Bender's new album kicks like a mule

Not a poor man's Avett Brothers.
PUBLICITY PHOTO

6 Day Bender has a new record coming out, and it's got some promise. (Yeah, I still call them "records"–- so sue me for going to college before the internet.)

Let me be honest here: when I first heard 6 Day a couple years back, my internal pork-o-matic immediately pigeonholed them as a poor man's Avett Brothers, complete with a banjo-toting frontman and lots of sweaty hollering–- all seasoned with drunk college chicks who flood their shows and talk the whole time.

But closer inspection reveals enough originality and drive to warrant further investigation. And hell, all the local rags seemed to think they were the next big thing.

I met the guys and I liked 'em–- goofy, boob-grabbing college boys, mooching my weed at festivals. Things were looking up. They had a savvy approach. Instead of saturating the crappy local bar/club scene, they're seeking out wider audiences in other towns' crappy bar/club scenes.

They even got a sponsorship from Dickies work clothes–- how cool is that? And then, all went quiet. Frontman Luke Nutting started another project, Red Rattles. And just when I thought it might be over, here comes E'Ville Fuzz, a well-produced, beer-soaked, working man's affair with a catchy aesthetic and a lot of boot-stomping fury.

At its best, it's reminiscent of the Faces with Rod Stewart circa "Stay With Me" or maybe Rolling Stones country during the Mick Taylor years. At its worst, the Black Crowes. (For a lot of listeners, and certainly for the band's key demographic, that's a compliment.)

If you like southern-fried party rock with a little extra edge, then this one's for you. Not to say the album lacks depth–- though the tunes are mostly about "baby, don't you wanna &*#% me?"–- because there's a lot of acreage in that genre (and the gods of rock will never tire of pseudo-romantic pap). It's upbeat, occasionally frantic, but in a deliberate "we sure know how to rock yer ass" kind of way.

These aren't just three-chord jams; there's some good composition here. Gotta hand it to 'em, there will always be a market for this kind of almost-straight-ahead, teetering-towards-alternative, Telecaster/harmonica sprawl.

Although country/countrified rock has never been my thing (good for xenophobes = bad for me), I can see cranking this one up every so often just to get my PBR on. E'Ville Fuzz is a solid album with enough punkish attitude and hair-of-the-dog whimsy to keep a cocaine-addled, beer-soaked gathering engaged. Far more interesting than any plastic Black Crowes crap in my book. But I won't be trashing my copy of Exile On Main Street any time soon either.

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6 Day Bender celebrate the release of E'Ville Fuzz at the Southern on Friday, October 29th at 8pm with opener These United States. Tickets are $8.