Speakers hiss in a way that only a turn table needle can make. Within seconds of the album opener Prometheus I am sent to a familiar place. Doug Ballance shouts, I am Prometheus, I bring you rock and roll." I am sent to my record collection, a large part inherited by my parents. Black Sabbath’s self titled album never feels as good as it does with those hisses and pops trying to break free. Led Zeppelin IV is normally an experience, but it is otherworldly when sounds like he is fighting to be heard. Make Us Famous by Izzy Edible isn’t on vinyl. In fact, in the world of digital recording it seems to me that musicians are more concerned with following a metronome and hitting all of the “right” notes. That’s fine. I respect that. But it isn’t often that you get to just hear a band rock out because they can’t do anything better. Izzy Edible is such a band, drawing from influences that you could probably find in my aforementioned record collection. A bit of AC/DC, some Zep and etc. Without sounding directly like any of those bands, Izzy Edible has put together a nice collection of traditional hard rock songs. Luckily they have a great sense of humor and front man and guitarist Doug Ballance is not afraid to show it.

Disneyland and public executions, current favorite forms of prostitution. When it’s over are you hollow? Did you spit or did you swallow? Nuclear weapons and blowjobs.

He is unashamedly himself.

Independently produced, Make Us Famous is exactly what it sounds like: A cry for help. Believing that they deserve to be revered as rock gods, they give themselves the star treatment. The sound is barely mastered, meaning that the band only has themselves to rely on in the sound department. Outside of the occasional overdub of vocals, the only thing that the band has to rely on is songwriting. Luckily, they have this in spades. Songs like Come On Come break through the gate and never stop. This band is pissed off about something. Pissed off that modern rock is a joke, pissed off that Gene Simmons is more involved with signing licensing contracts than singing about oral sex. They want to pick up the pieces of the shattered rock scene and keep them all to themselves? Do they succeed at this? I think that they do a pretty damn good job. The best example of this is album closer Daydreamer. Ballance puts away his flame shaped guitar (I’m dead serious, look it up on their website) and strums on his acoustic on what he calls their Sabbath Bloody Bohemian Stairway to Hotel Freebird. I think that I have said enough there.

Ballance is a great front man. Imagine the range of Robert Plant with the ferocity and bite of Bon Scott (Just don’t tell him that he looks like Jack Black or you are liable to get a stink eye of legendary proportions. Seriously, don’t fucking do it.) Matched up with him is contrabass player RRRL Thornton. That’s right, he plays a god damn contrabass. This takes some time to get used to, and the change in sound certainly doesn’t compliment the electric guitars in the way that we are familiar to. But it is a nice change of pace and a testament to the fact that the only bad idea is the one that hasn’t been tried yet. Opie Cakebread fills out the sound nicely on the kit, harnessing the power of the late great Jon Bonham. The band isn’t heavy enough to fit into the metal territory, but anyone that appreciates the modern riffage of The Melvins (I know that there is no The, but you and try to make that flow in a sentence!) will find similar results. Big, nasty, and big, there is absolutely nothing subtle about Izzy Edible and as long as it rocks, I’m willing to join along for the ride. The album is called Make Us Famous and by reviewing it I am doing my part. Take a listen at the bottom and maybe you'll want a share. www.reverbnation.com/izzyedible