Whiskey Six “Whiskey Six”
Whiskey Six is comprised of Chris Strickler on vocals and guitar, Jake Dalton (AKA – Mongo) on lead guitar, Raf Garcia on bass, and Matt Indes on the drums. They appropriately got their name, or maybe inappropriately is a better word, when the band was only a trio, each possessing two testicles. Each member of the band also possesses a weighty admiration with things pertaining to whiskey, mostly the drinking of it. They added Matt Indes on drums and realized they had a problem with their name, but thus far have remained Whiskey Six. I suspect Whiskey Six has a much better ring to it than does Whiskey Eight. Six will always be a superior number to eight when it comes to the name of a hardcore rock band.
In one interview the band was asked, “Are you any good?” Matt Indes replied, “When we’re drinking we think we sound great. When the audience is drinking we sound even better”. Let me tell you something boys; I haven’t had a drink in nearly eighteen years and I think you sound fantastic.
This amazingly well crafted set of three songs begins with “Your Disease”. The listener is lured in to the tune with a Resonator that starts the whole thing off at a deceivingly slow pace, closely followed by Mongo’s gift for playing extraordinarily superior lead guitar, taking the listener to the next, much faster phase of the tune. “Your Disease” possesses a heavy dose of attitude. Why wouldn’t it? First off, the title has the word “disease” in it. It should be illegal in the rock world to use the word disease without an enormous quantity of attitude. Attitude certainly resides here, and then some.
The second track is “Seven Headed”, a raucously heavy-handed indulgence for the lover of hard southern rock music. Chris Strickler’s vocals are perfect. The rhythm section is right on, and Mongo’s lead guitar is right there in all its glory, doing what it is designed to do: lead the way without overwhelming the tune. It’s a perfect blend that comes together to form a piece of rock ‘n roll art.
Finally, “Heavy Metal Doom Machine” wraps it all up. My guess is that this is the band’s anthem, if they were to have one. It’s a tune with complete attitude, and I don’t mean a good attitude. I mean bad attitude. You know what I mean – rebellious, unruly, defiant, disobedient! Again, Mr. Strickler’s vocals are right on target as is Mongo on lead guitar. If my ears were not deceiving me, I’d say I hear a Resonator in the background as well, complimenting it all. This adds depth to the tune and, I believe, takes it far beyond other songs of this genre.
As Jake Dalton (Mongo) said in one interview, “Both Chris (Strickler) and I listen to a lot of the great blues guitarists, R L. Burnside, Rory Gallagher – guitarists that had a stripped down, raw edge to their music. We wanted to bring that energy into what we do.” Congratulations gentlemen, you have succeeded here!
Other current musicians heavily influence most rock or pop bands today. In many cases, this can cause them to become somewhat two-dimensional. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, along with other bands from the 60’s and early 70’s were influenced significantly by blues legends. It’s what made them great and gave them longevity. It would appear that Whiskey Six has adopted this practice from some of these other successful predecessors. With that in mind, and if Whiskey Six doesn’t lose sight of who they are, we should be hearing a lot more from this great band in the future.
Review by Rod Ames

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