The Mother Station
Brand New Bag

LA RECENSIONE

Sometimes you happen to discover little-known bands almost by chance, and you end up appreciating them much more than other big names. This could be true for Mother Station, a little-known band from Memphis. The band is led by the excellent guitarist Gwin Spencer and the fantastic voice of Susan Marshall (sister of the Cat Power singer), who together with Rick Shelton and Paul Brown released in 1994 Brand New Bag, the only album ever released to date.

Theirs is a powerful sound heavily inspired by southern rock and old-style blues, and overall it has the driving impact of a train that completely runs you over, leaving you utterly speechless.

In particular, they take inspiration from the Black Crowes, especially in ballads and slow tracks, in which Susan perfectly embodies the role of Chris Robinson.

Soul is another genre heavily used by the band, which they invoke very well in the cover of the old Fool For A Pretty Face, performed with great gusto and energy, and in other tracks like Heart Without A Home, in which Susan (the strong point of the band) gives her best, establishing herself as a singer of a different caliber, unfortunately little recognized. Just to give you an idea of her talent, in certain songs, she almost sounds like a hard-rock version of Tina Turner and, if possible, in some respects even more aggressive.

You can speak of Hard Rock throughout the album, from the initial riff of Put The Blame On Me, the only piece that managed to get vaguely noticed, passing through excellent hard performances in tracks like Somebody Else Will and Hangin' On, in which Gwin demonstrates her guitar skills, often reminiscent of the riffs and phrasings of Led Zeppelin, up to the terrifying finale titled Stranger To My Soul, certainly the most successful and impetuous track of the album.