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Young Heart Attack Rocks Out Texas Style

By Darcie Stevens
Austin Chronicle | July 23, 2004
Young Heart Attack

Mouthful of Love (XL)

It’s about damn time for a bloodshot, bleary-eyed, sweaty Texas road trip. Go get the Charger’s Hemi revved, stash a quarter bag under the seat, and pop in some tunes. The Who then some Zeppelin. A little Skynyrd, Van Halen, and a pinch of the Nuge. And for Pete’s sake, don’t forget Angus; can’t cruise without Back in Black. Hell yeah – can you smell the melting blacktop? See the mirage blazing down the road? The border’s only four hours away, and Young Heart Attack is sittin’ bitch. Mouthful of Love is a short ride to a good time, a hair more than 35 minutes of drug-addled, sex-crazed, head-bangin’ blues rock – just enough to tease, not enough to revolutionize. But that’s not the point. Frenchie Smith’s riffing and Chris Hodges’ screaming carry this record through the Seventies, but it wouldn’t hold its weight in powder without Jennifer Stephens. This chick can wail, and she is the only thing pulling YHA out of the Supagroup-Amplified Heat-Supersuckers whirlwind. "Tommy Shots" shows off the Hodges-Stephens two-time, "Starlite" doesn’t stop (it go, goes), and "Misty Rowe" begs for another shot of whiskey. MC5 cover "Over and Over" matches the Attack like Camels do Pearl, but "El Camino" and "Sick of Doing Time" are Miller Lite in a Lone Star world. Nevertheless, YHA is burning rubber past every white belt in town, so a Mexican journey might be a little risky while the smoke is billowing. Fuck it, man. Let’s just go downtown.

*** – Darcie Stevens
Tags: Mouthful of Love, Young Heart Attack

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