Matadors play a brand of rock that is very influenced by the seventies brand of rock and the first wave of acts (Corrosion of Conformity, Fu Manchu) that were influenced by that brand of rock. Thus, when the band starts the disc with “Like A Matador Pt II”, individuals can hear all of these influences well. The first track is a hard-rocking track that does not fail to impress; what should really get individuals into the Matadors on “The Muse of Senor R\ay” is “I Just Tell You What You Wanna Hear”. The virtuosic guitar is what is dominant during the track, and while the vocals are solid, the guitars here are amazing.
The band does not stop with the rock radio hits, as “Down The Fair” comes through with another melody that will claw deep into listeners’ brains and never give up its hold. There is so much that happens on a Matadors track that individuals will have a hell of a time trying to hear everything that the band has placed on the disc. For example, in the aforementioned “Down The Fair”, there are three sets of vocals, guitars, drums and a bass all throwing in, with enough layers to make the most anorexic person look like Fat Bastard. The tracks all conform to a certain length that is short enough to allow for the Matadors to not fall into a rut. If a track does not work for them (and this does not happen much, if at all on “The Muse of Senor Ray”), the Matadors only have to stick it out for another minute instead of trying to control it if the song was longer.
“Oh Well, It’s A Bizarre World” is a track that expands the horizon for Matadors. This is done by the band creating arrangements that snowball into something harder and greater than the previous iterations; the band succeeds without anything in the way of failure on “Oh Well, It’s A Bizarre World”. The band strikes gold 13 times, and while a number of bands do this exact same thing (the seventies / sludge retro type of sound), Matadors do it well throughout. Here’s to hoping that the band can continue to delight without falling into any rut in their follow-up releases to “The Muse of Senor Ray”. A party rock album, if I’ve ever heard one; Matadors will keep individuals up and partying till the break of dawn.
Top Tracks: Along Came The Halo, Senor Ray
Rating: 6.1/10
Matadors – The Muse of Senor Ray / 2006 Devil Doll / 13 Tracks / http://www.matadorsmusic.com / http://www.devildollrecords.com / Reviewed 21 May 2006
[JMcQ]