Left Lane Cruiser

While it's true that the two-piece blues-rock formula is close to played out, that hasn't stopped Indiana duo Left Lane Cruiser from continuing to plumb the depths of backwoods sleaze. Freddy J IV and Brenn Beck clearly were feeling an itch to expand their sound as well and on this fifth album, their transition into a more fleshed out unit comes off almost flawlessly. Detroit garage rock production guru Jim Diamond has built a solid rapport with the group over their last couple of releases and on this latest effort manages to accentuate their solid grooves with a range of scuzzy sounds that will have fans of the early Fat Possum catalogue rejoicing. While the cover art by fantasy icon William Stout and opening track "Zombie Blocked" will have an obvious appeal to fans of a certain highly rated TV show, the rest of Rock Them Back To Hell! is pure Mississippi sludge, with Freddy J's slide guitar squirming like an electric eel on "Jukebox" and "Paralyze Ya." Even an attempt at a love song, "Coley," leaves a rash-like sensation afterward, which is as it should be. This is by far Left Lane Cruiser's best album to date.