A dozen years or so ago, Joe Mazzari was in bad-to-the-bone Boston sleaze rock band The Two Saints. (There were actually three of them, and none of ‘em were particularly saint-like.) Before that, he had a vintage punk(ish) band called the Daughters, and even did time in Johnny Thunders’ backing band. So Joe knows rock n’ roll, baby. But that’ll become apparent from the first note of soaring opener “Miles Away”, a jubilant ode to getting the fuck outta town, presumably with a big ol’ electric guitar in hand. A lot of the songs on “Long Live the King” have that vibe, you know, that breathless feeling you get when you realize, holy fuck, I’m actually getting away with it! And that’s just perfect for this kinda divebar, puke-on-your-shoes, late 70’s raunch n’ roll. Some of the tunes – “Rosalie”, “Hanging n the Line” sound real familiar to me, which means that they’re either revamped Two Saints songs, or I just instinctively know Joe’s songs, even the ones he hasn’t written yet. Which is more plausible than you’d think. Anyway, both of ‘em are powerhouses. Another highlight is the slinky “Downtown America”, where Joe drawls about the wonders of NYC over his shuffling guitar. It would not sound out of place on Lou Reed’s “Transformer”, probably on purpose. Through it all is Joe’s guitar, a true thunder stick that sounds like a whole army of leather jacketed glue sniffers from Planet 1978 who have come for your women, but will settle on your beer. Stellar. They may not have the mascara, the drug problems, or an ex death metal dude in their ranks, but the JM Band could outrock most of the nu-sleaze goons in Sweden, easy. Don’t let their nice guy shit fool you, man. This is a take-no-prisoners scorcher from end to end, and Joe Mazzari remains my favorite unsung rock n’ roll guitar hero ever.

He really should work on that ‘unsung’ part, though. __________________________________________________

-Sleazegrinder