Heavy Blanket Wins with Authenticity
In today’s music industry, radio selections, popular artists and online music trends might have you believing that rock is dead; Heavy Blanket begs to differ. Made up of guitarist J Mascis, bassist Johnny Pancake and drummer Peter Cougar, Heavy Blanket brings a nostalgic sound for those who grew up with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Their latest record, Moon Is, released in January of 2023, exudes psychedelic rock at a stellar level of musicianship, much to the enjoyment of Mascis’s fans, who have been anticipating new music for nearly a decade.
Over the course of the album’s six tracks, listeners are treated to a vintage performance driven by lots of distortion, clever riffs and most importantly, long extended guitar solos. In fact, the solos that Mascis takes on the album are practically the primary focus, in lieu of the absence of a vocalist. In this sense, Heavy Blanket takes a page out of the book of another rock icon, the late and great Jeff Beck, who was known for his melodic style of playing. On the opening track, “Danny,” the group follows one of the most common rock forms as the lead guitar strings a melody together over 2 instances of a verse and chorus before taking a lengthy solo, and a recapitulation of the melody ties it all together at the end.
Although this use of form works seamlessly with the rock genre that the group pulls inspiration from, not every track sticks to the same formula, ensuring that the listening experience doesn’t become stale after a track or two. Songs like the title track “Moon Is” as well as the subsequent track “String Along” don’t utilize a form, but rather act as jams over one or two ideas, where Pancake and Cougar vamp on the riff established at the beginning of the song until Mascis lays one, or in the case of “String Along”, multiple solos on top. But then, rejuvenating the experience yet again, the band keeps things interesting on their remaining tracks by adjusting the groove mid-song, changing meters in both “Crushed” as well as “Eyevoid,” which without the copious amounts of distortion would almost sound like a jazz standard. These changes in time signature and feel happen almost effortlessly, which truly speaks to how tight the trio is as a group and how well they know each other as musicians.
In many instances, the influences that shaped the record can be very apparent. The multiple guitar tones utilized in “String Along” could easily be mistaken for the playing of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour paired with the playing of Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi. However, the comparisons are certainly not one to one, and the personality of all three members shines in different moments. From Cougar’s borderline surf rock groove on “Danny” to the intoxicating bass riff that Pancake establishes early on in “Moon Is,” it isn’t hard to find moments that aren’t derived from rock bands of the past but are purely sourced from Heavy Blanket themselves. Mascis utilizes a guitar tone throughout the record that is so raw, distorted and devoid of reverb of any kind, the likes of which haven’t been heard from any guitarist. A tone like that could very easily expose any amateur, of which Mascis certainly is not, and neither are his comrades. Every instrument is hot and in your face, but lovers of rock and roll would expect nothing less.
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