Track Of The Day: The Bonesmen

Meet The Bonesmen, who’ve taken the classic southern sound and given it a new tweak. They’ve got a new album out, and have given us the latest Track Of The Day. Check out all Tracks Of The Day.Words: Sleazegrinder 

Connecticut is not well-known for its rock n’ roll exports, but The Bonesmen may change all that. Hard rock heroes in the classic, southern-fried vein – think Georgia Satellites, or a less druggy Black Crowes – The Bonesmen have quietly been conquering their home state one kill-for-thrills gig at a time, and are now setting their sights on the rest of the world.
 
Formed in New Haven somewhere in the murk of the mid-00s, The Bonesmen self-released their first album, Skin And Bones, in ’07, and have been gigging relentlessly all over New England ever since. Surprisingly, given the cut-throat world of regional rock n’ roll, things have gone well, so far.

“Opening for bands like Johnny Winter, Mountain, Marshall Tucker, Gilby Clark are always really fun,” says lead guitarist Mark Turko.

“Poorly promoted shows where attendance is slim is never as cool, but we get our rock on just the same. Fortunately,” he laughs, “there’s been no memorable catastrophes yet, But.there’s still plenty of time.”

Given their name, surely they must have at least busted a bone or two along the way?

“No broken bones,” says Turko. “Just some broken hearts along the way, and our balls, occasionally, by the music business.”

The Bonesmen are men of few words, which is fitting, given their unadorned, stripped-down take on classic hard rock. As they like to refer to it, they play, “Your drunken uncle’s rock ‘n’ roll”, a smooth-sipping, back-porch jam that straddles country and blues, but always delivers a bracing slug of vintage thunderboogie.

“This is good times music,” says Bonesmen singer Frank Thomas. “It’s supposed to be fun. You crank it up in your backyard on a hot summer day with the grill going, and a fresh keg tapped.”

Somewhere between the last fistful of keg-tapping summer days and now, The Bonesmen managed to record and release their second album, the cleverly named Deuce. No sophomore slump, Deuce is a logical progression from Skin And Bones, a mature and inventive collection of epic whiskey rock that brings to mind recent efforts from southern rock legends like Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet. They also manage to turn the Monkees’ Last Train to Clarksville into a gritty hard rock anthem. Sturdy and swaggering, Deuce is a must-have for fans of…well, kegs and summertime and southern rock. And that’s most of us, I reckon.

So what’s next for The Bonesmen?

“With the released of Deuce, we are ever widening our territory and our fan base. We hope to get over to Europe before the end of 2010,” says Turko.

What can we expect? An onstage steam locomotive? A laser show?

“No props or lasers yet,” he says. “At this point, we have to travel light. It’s all about a lean rock show.”
 
Here, courtesy of the band, is Deuce’s opener, Do it Again.
http://rapidshare.com/files/368221277/01-Do_It_Again.mp3
 
If you dig it, the album’s available from CD Baby.
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/TheBonesmen
 
Visit the band at their website:
http://www.thebonesmen.com/index.htm