Dr CRAZY ‘1000 Guitars’ DD 2015
Say, ever wondered what that large letter ‘R’ in a circle is doing painted on the front of your driveway these days? Why, that’s the space permanently reserved for your ROFLcopter good Sir/Ma’am and guess what, vocalist Andreas ‘Mazz’ Mazzereth (Groan, Ratz Ass, Trebuchet, Battlewitch) and his hilarious laboratory of Craziness are back and ready to not just set right down on your front pad, but to dress up as a ballerina, toot on a series of party-poppers and urinate all over it in the name of rock n’ roll. Dr CRAZY is actually the strictly studio/bedroom-only project (‘cos let’s face it, no stage could handle this spectacle live) of ex-Trippy Wicked and Groan multi-instrumentalist Chris West who handles guitar, bass, mixing and mastering on this, the Doctor’s second silly-as-silly-string-in-Sicily EP.
Setting out their stall nice and early with an if-that-ain’t-an-Acca-Dacca-rip-off-I’ll-eat-my-face riff on Hands Off My Rock And Roll confirms that the good doctor has once again laughed off the idea of musical progression in favour of pure fist-pumping good times. Put simply, this is the greatest AC/DC cover that Airbourne haven’t got round to writing yet, with its chugging, crunchy riffs, feel good rhythms and head-nodding repeatability. Roping in the versatile Mike Pilat (who’s CV includes bands as bizarrely varied as Groan and The Ocean) to slap stuff behind the kit is a wise move for Dr West who’d previously used the likely-busy-with-serious-stuff talents of Tony Reed on the last ‘CRAZY outing Demon Lady. Although, truth be told it could be a half-trained monkey behind the tubs for all I care as this is Mazz’s stage and I’ll be damned if drums are going to stop my enjoyment of such majestic and anthemic lines as “You can take my woman! She’s has no self-control! You can take my mother! Just not my rock and roll!!”
Once you pop you just can’t stop and whilst Bikini Woman initially threatens to saddle the tastiest blues-groove this side of a Clutch classic, it soon riots off into a rock-steady mash-up of Status Quo and Fu Manchu faster than you can say “Holy moly!” As Mazz again spouts a noble, sincere tune about grabbing a summer beer, grabbing a bikini-clad ass and grabbing a boogie van, you can only lay back at the beach and marvel at his experienced wisdom: “Double dice! Bikini woman! She’s lookin nice! Bikini woman!”
Chris West claims that title track 1000 Guitars is “one thousand takes of guitar tracking perfectly all in perfect unison so it sounds like just one guitar” and on this evidence, it’s hard to argue that he’s wrong. As Pilat taps and struts behind West’s widdly riffery and Mazz’s spindly snake-eyed shakes and assertions that “1000 guitars! That’s what we scream! 1000 guitars?! You’re a sex machine!” it’s yet another poignant reminder that rock doesn’t have to be sophisticated to still fucking rock.
Oh dear… “Hey there woman, you’re real good lookin! Pull down your pants, let me see what’s cookin!” I think this may be the most Mazziest of Mazzerisms thus far. The Mistress Of Business has arrived and she ain’t leaving that dirty down-town rock club before West has played those one half Led-Zep, one half Ratt-esque cuts of solid, funky monkey, hard rock. Pilat keeps the pair in check and in some semblance of rhythm as they collectively lurch through the song high on Dr CRAZY’s potion-brewed perfume of armpit sweat and M&S-purchased lager.
So there you have it. Another year down, another Monster of LOL-Rock from Dr CRAZY. Silly stuff? Oh hellz yeah, but don’t knock ‘em, they’re damn fine tunes too and perfect for a summer barbeque or a date in a quiet Venetian restaurant. If Steel Panther and Angus Young ever had a baby, I’d like to think it would want to grow up to be a doctor who’s about as CRAZY as these guys. Now, let’s stick it on once again – we’ve got a ‘Copter to warm up…
Label: Superhot Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp
Scribed by: Pete Green
