Location:
USA, NY

Category:
Punk / Metal

Try if you like:
Brant Bjork, Clutch, Fu Manchu

The onesheet that came with the brand spanking new John Wilkes Booth album Sic Semper Tyrannis was bang on. It stated that this Long Island based foursome mixed punk and stoner rock with a small smattering of metal. I couldn't have said it better. I've heard rumblings of this album for quite sometime (not as long as Chinese Democracy) but it is only now that this thick album surfaces. John Wilkes Booth has been around since 2005, releasing a self-titled EP in 2006 that got fans salivating for their full-length.

This album is awesome for a self-made effort. It starts off very strong with "Eye Rack", showing more of the punk roots of the band. They get pretty bottom heavy on tracks such as "Breathing For No Reason". It has more of the stoner rock feel but you can still hear a definite hardcore punk influence at play. More punk is present on "Rats In My Room". Then the true stoner rock comes out in "The Jesus Song". You can almost call it sludgy. They could have saved me an earache by eliminating the first minute off of "Haze" with the feedback. That song has a fun gentle groove to it. 

So the difference between these Long Islander's as opposed to other stoner rock classicists such as Fu Manchu is JWB tend to relying on being heavier as opposed to groovier. I would suggest that the band work just a bit more on polishing the final product. The songs are so solid but they would have seen slight improvement had they had that perfect polish that you tend to get from a Brant Bjork release. All in all Sic Semper Tyrannis is an stellar debut album.