Let the year that is 2008 begin to rock. Right now. Alive Records has released Left Lane Cruiser’s label debut, Bring Yo’ Ass To The Table, and it is everything fans of their self-released album, Gettin’ Down On It, could have expected and so much more. I got an iPhone for Christmas and in preparation for the beginning of the year, I planned to load the new LLC, Drive-By Truckers and N. Mississippi Allstars albums on it for listening in my New Years travels. I never made it to the DBT or NMA discs.

Joe and Brenn headed into Painesville, Ohio’s Suma Studios, a studio full of reel to reels and vinyl cutting machines, and emerged with a blues-fueled, rock-driven cd on the verge of a whiskey rage. This is a must add to the Essential Listening list and currently my favorite cd of this young year. You like this site? You’ll love this disc…trust me.

LLC is currently on the road with another ninebullets fave, Black Diamond Heavies….I can’t imagine the awesome concentrate that this show must be, but seeing as how the tour isn’t currently making it to Florida, imagining is all I got. Even if they don’t get down this way, they are supposed to be playing this year’s Deep Blues Festival, so I’ll be coming to them.

Left Lane Cruiser - Set Me Down
Left Lane Cruiser - Pork & Beans
Left Lane Cruiser - Amy’s in the Kitchen

Left Lane Cruiser on myspace, Left Lane Cruiser on Alive Records, Buy Bring Yo’ Ass To The Table

Left Lane Cruiser - “Set Me Down” Live Video:

and if that didn’t make you wanna shake your ass then you just need to start getting your musical suggestions from perezhilton.

Due to a mixup on a tshirt order we are gonna have a small give away. Basically, I ordered a shirt from LLC and paypal never bothered to tell them. A few months passed without shirt so I emailed them asking about it. They apologized profusely and promised to get it right out. Then, as an apology they went above the call of duty and included (2) copies of thier totatlly awesome album, Gettin’ Down On It.

Lucky you, the readers. I already have a copy of the cd and anyone who gets anywhere nera earshot of me already knows the super-awesome sounds of Left Lane Cruiser so why not offer these copies to the readers who may not know it quite as intimately as me.

So. Read the piece I wrote about them a few months ago, listen to the sample below and if it sounds like something you would like email me your mailing address. First (2) people in get a copy courtesy of ninebullets.net and Left Lane Cruiser.

EDIT: As of this morning I still have (1) left. Both discs have been claimed.

Left Lane Cruiser - Big Mama

In the course of writing this web site, I sometimes find myself becoming a music consumer. That’s good, write about it. That sucks, throw it away. Oh! I really like that! Add it to the Essential Listening List and toss it on the iPod. Album in. 5 listens. Write about it. Rip it. Post mp3s. Repeat with new cd. You start going through the motions. These are the times when I start to get “blog-fatigue”. Then an album like Gettin’ Down On It arrives in the mailbox, and I remember why I started this site.

Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Left Lane Cruiser say they “hit the crowd like a shockwave through a big ol’ buttcheek” and I think that is as good a way as any to describe the way this cd affected me. I came across these fellas while I was researching the artist itinerary for the Deep Blues Festival and before the first track, “Big Mama”, could end, I was typing an email explaining my site and asking for a cd. They agreed and I started watching the mailbox. The day the cd arrived, I loaded the dog up in the car, rolled down all the windows and took a long drive across the bridges to give it an uninterrupted listen, and it has been on my person ever since. I’ve used it as the soundtrack to get drunk to before going to a show. I’ve used it as a soundtrack to get drunk to before going out to get drunk. I’ve used it as background music for cleaning, grilling and, most recently, as the soundtrack for “Madden ‘08″. Can you tell this cd gets me excited about music?

Left Lane Cruiser is Joe Evans and Brenn Beck. Evans plays slide guitar and handles the vocals. Beck makes the big ass drum sounds while also manning harmonica, mouth harp, and a vast array of other percussive instruments. Much like the Black Keys, their sound is a lot fuller than you would expect from two people, but that, and the blues label, is about all they share with The Black Keys. Left Lane Cruiser plays a type of music way down close to the dirt-style of North Mississippi Hill Country blues, mixed with a punch in the gut, a whiskey shooter and a corn dog. This is some swampy racket you have to add to your cd collection. Gettin’ Down On It is not only getting a lead seat on the ninebullets Essential Listening list, it is also gonna get heavy consideration for my favorite album this year, despite the fact that it came out in May ‘06.

LLC will soon share one other similarity with The Black Keys. Like the Keys, they are gonna get their start with a label that is quickly becoming my favorite label on the block, Alive Records. They are scheduled to release their first album on Alive in January of ‘08, and I can already tell you it is a candidate for album of the year over here. Get on the bandwagon now…These kids are going places.

Left Lane Cruiser - Big Mama
Left Lane Cruiser - Pork N’ Beans
Left Lane Cruiser - That Ass [Live]

Left Lane Cruiser on myspace, Left Lane Cruiser on Alive Records, Buy Gettin’ Down On It

Here is a video of LLC covering my absolute favorite Black Keys song, Stack Shot Billy:

I’m not just saying this is my favorite Black Keys track because I found an LLC cover of a Black Keys track on YouTube. The reason I will never be able to get enough of this song is because of the cymbals in it. F-ing Perfect. That high-hat just forces a drastic elevation in the volume. Unless you know the song, you can’t really get a full appreciation for them (cymbals) live, so I am gonna post the studio version for y’all:

The Black Keys - Stack Shot Billy