The Cold Stares
Heavy Shoes
(Mascot Records)
3 1/2 out of 5 stars
Videos by American Songwriter
“Heavy, bluesy, straight ahead and honest,” is how Chris Tapp describes the music of The Cold Stares, the group he fronts as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. That’s a perfect capsule description of this tough two-man band that echoes the sound of The Black Keys, The White Stripes, and the Flat Duo Jets, not coincidentally other outfits that dispense with a bass player to keep their sound lean and mean.
Now on release number five, the twosome has been cranking out albums since 2014, with three of them arriving one year apart from 2017-2019. This is the second consecutive release recorded at Nashville’s Sam Phillips Recording Studio and between their musical progression—the maturation that years on the road brings, along with feeling comfortable in a recording environment, it’s arguably their finest.
The songs are generally riff-based with Tapp grinding out a lick, repeating it throughout the next three minutes as drummer Brian Mullins pounds out a beat with the insistency of a man possessed. Tapp has been through the personal turmoil mill being diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in 2009 and given six months to live. Surviving that sort of life-threatening affliction is sure to be reflected in his music which gets to the point quickly and moves onto the next track without fuss or excess fat.
Press play on any of these dozen songs and you’ll find anger, irritation and a frustration with the government (“It’s a Game,” “Prosecution Blues”), relationships (the title track, “You Wanted Love”) and life in general (on “Hard Times” he sings I got a flat tire on my automobile/And a black crow in my windowsill/I can’t even pay my bills/And I got a fever and I’m feeling ill).
There are instances where this hovers close to old Black Sabbath territory, especially when the guitar lines get thick and sludgy on “Strange Light.” Other tunes like “40 Dead Men” feel like a punch in the gut before slowing down the tempo as Tapp takes the voice of a soldier tired of war singing, I laid down my rifle, and I laid down my sword/ I ain’t gonna fight your war, anymore. On “Dust in My Hands” Tapp sings the part of an American Indian prisoner railing against his captors with Spirits walk across the desert floor/Wolves howling out their names/They took everything that I had known/and called it the progress of change, as he double tracks a taut guitar solo.
Clearly, there aren’t many, or even any, light-hearted moments here, perhaps not surprising for a guy that, at least for now, has looked death in the eye and won. But it’s what makes Heavy Shoes so gusty and personal, infusing The Cold Stares’ music its hard-won commitment, honesty, and intensity.
