Cult 45 – Cult 45 Demo Self released Release date: 2010
If there was a problem with Mess with the Bull, the Lamont meets Scissorfight band formed by the former's Pete Knipfing and the latter's Jay Fortin and Paul Jarvis, it's in how easily I just pegged them. Don't get me wrong, they had some damn fine songs and that their full-length never got released is a crying shame, but even still, they were so easily described as "Lamont meets Scissorfight" that it was just as easy to dismiss them for that.
Not so with Cult 45. Knipfing's still churning out dirt bag boogie riffs, but thanks to vocalist Tai Heatley, the group – rounded out by fellow Lamont alumni Todd Bowman on drums and Milligram/Cracktorch/Antler bassist Bob Maloney - is pushed in a more soulful, swinging direction. "Model Sex," "Walking Out Your Door," and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" are quick, punchy, and catchy, as you'd expect given the band's hard rock pedigree. But it's the strong female presence that lends distinction and a sort of joyful bawdiness (I should point out that Heatley's also done time in local bands, but none that I'm familiar with). "The Craving" is the odd man out on this four track EP, but while I'm still not entirely sold on its low key sultriness, it's still solid enough and offers proof that the band's capable of writing something other than "Lamont with Female Vocals." So yeah, this band as a whole is more than just the sum of its parts.
- John Pegoraro
_________________ I'm never gonna work another day in my life
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