Taipan - 1002: A Rock Odyssey

Label: Supernova
Year: 2007

When Steve Austin speaks (or plays music rather), you would be well served to listen. That's a sort of "law of the land" type thing. Steve Austin brings the real deal with maximum prejudice pretty much every time. All the time. His contributions to music still go mostly unheralded, even though he's one of the best guitarists in his genre, he always surrounds himself with impeccable rhythm sections, and he has a unique voice, in both tone and content, of anyone anywhere.
So, when there's a band involving Steve Austin that isn't Today Is The Day, it's going to be worth checking into. I think we can agree on that. This particular band also includes one of his Today Is The Day cohorts, Chris Debari, and the drummer from Iron Boss, Patrick Kennedy. So far, so good.
Musically, you'll hear (early period) Today Is The Day bleeding through (or on depending on how you look at it) all the songs, especially vocally. But what you may not expect to hear are shades of Afghan Whigs swagger, some rollicking garage rock, some proto-punk messiness (including a partial Stooges cover mixed in there), some of that Caustic Resins by way of Neil Young laconic swing,  swamp blues boogie, Sonic Youth-esque indie rock, cock-rocking metal, and menacing murder ballads. It's a wide gamut, but Austin's voice and a general veil of sick darkness pull the album together (mostly, anyway). Apparently this record was recorded a full six years prior to it's release, but time has been kind, it still sounds fresh now, 14 years after the fact.
As Today Is The Day once said, "it's a sweet ride mama". It's weird and varied and often caustic, but...isn't that what makes things interesting? Seems so.
If you're a Steve Austin fan, then most definitely dive in. If you're on the fence or something about Steve Austin, then...not real sure what to do with you. But for sure, dive in anyway.

DL