Band : Texas Motherfuckers
Album title : Freak
Label : No Solution
Distributor : Sonic Rendezvous
Release date : November 2008
Release : CD

In spite of their suggestive name, the Texas Motherfuckers are really from Sweden. And although having been formed in 1999, Freak is really (check text below for meaning) the band’s first full-length release! A retrospective?

It all started in early 1999, when members of the future band organized a nice outdoors concert for several bands called Freakrock ’99. Just to make for a decent billing, they decided to get together to form an additional act, thus performing their first gig at a festival! And that for an unsigned band, hahah!!! Anyway, the guys were obviously into D.I.Y. at the time, because right after the festival they recorded the material for their two first self-released singles, the first arriving in December of the same year, the second in August of 2000. Several gigs were done in the meantime (some in Denmark), and new songs were written and eventually recorded with a portable studio lent from friends. This time, a couple of labels showed interest.

Swedish Zorck Productions issued the band’s third single, French label Mansfield Records released the next…both in 2001! During that year, the band played Sweden from top to bottom. But the next year one of the guitarists left, leading to the singer having to pick up the guitar in order for the band to remain with their sound. A hard time rehearsing followed, but the band’s first 4-member gig in berlin saw TM pass the test! With the band members busy with other stuff, late 2002 and early 2003 was pretty unproductive, but in August 2003 the release of the band’s 5th (vinyl) single announced the start of a new beginning, the band again booking gigs and releasing a split-EP with Dutch band the Riots on Tear it Up Records in december that same year!

In early 2004 the band released a “various outtakes”-CD titled Retaliation, and followed that up with a week of European touring during March. A German/ Belgian tour, as well as a tour of the UK, followed in 2005. During a new European tour (a stop in Köln, Germany), the band started recording material for new stuff, followed by another session (Wuppertal, also Germany), both recorded with Paul Grace. The result came with a Fall 2007 released split EP with Egyptian Gaylovers, Coogan’s Bluff and Drive By Shooting (followed by a tour with those guys in Oct/ Nov), and a split EP with Suma issued early 2008. April and May saw the guys back on tour, the Summer spent travelling the festivals. The release of the new album (again recorded by Paul Grace) was meant to happen late Summer, with a new tour originally planned to happen in the Fall. As we at Concrete Web only got the promo copy of the album halfway last month (November), I’m not sure how things actually worked out.

Anyways, time  to concentrate on the material of the album, and a first listening session will clearly indicate why these guys call themselves the way they do! Indeed, singer/ guitarist Magnus “Könberg” Larsson, guitarist/ singer Niklas Gunnrin, bassist Ulrich Ruchlinski (who’s occasionally replaced by Emqa for live purposes) and drummer Ulrich Ruchlinski are definitely influenced by the Texan Garage Rock/ Metal scene, and the 5 songs (and couple of live videos) posted at myspace.com/texasmotherfuckers (4 of which are off the album) will definitely convince you of that! Nothing world-shocking, nothing innovating, but good entertainment value with decent guitar work for those into that scene! Huh…I have a friend who’s just simply gonna lóve this when I’ll have him listen to it (hahah…if he ain’t gót the album by then already, because he’s rather quick in picking up stuff in this genre)!

82/100

Tony.