In about 35 years, you can drink a lot of beer, play a lot of loud, fast rock and roll and punk music, make friends, work jobs, drink beer, write songs, move apart, reunite and face yourself, if you’re smart or fortunate, maybe both. On their newest 5-song CD “Sasquatch Gold,” Monkeywrench does all of this.
For a time one of Buffalo’s best musically and hardest drinking bands (yeah, a bit of my opinion with some fact), Monkeywrench, made up of Timo Walikis on guitars and lead vocals, Schmidty on lead guitar and vocals, Scotty James Dio Maruscak on bass and vocals and Marc Yonkers on drums and vocals has released several albums, 45s, tracks and so on. After Walikis moved to California, the members went their separate ways, performing in other bands, most notably Schmidty in the very good and very underrated country rocking Flatbed. Happily, Walikis moved back and the band reunited. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the band’s alter ego, the Vinny Barbarino Experience, gained an unexpected popularity playing revved up 70s and 80s covers of all genres, and is playing occasionally again.
I have been a big Monkeywrench fan from the start, and noticed from the start that the band kind of walked a high wire with the drinking thing (this was during my drinking days as well). Social drinks were frequently called for from the stage, shots were accepted and the legendary Piels helmets became famous, but as many of us discovered, there are holes and blanks that the booze doesn’t fill, things change too fast, life in general starts coming in and it isn’t always fun or sensible.
Monkeywrench has addressed these things in songs for years, but faces them head on on “Sasquatch Gold.” The CD starts with “That Would Be Great,” a kick ass rocker with Walikis noting it’s almost a surprise the band made it here kind of intact, or at least functioning, and that “you can only hate so much until you just let go.” “Beat the Feel” also blazes along as Walikis drinks alone, gets more drunk, realizes he’s lied to himself about life as it moves on. “Fucked Up Better” pulls the throttle back slightly to a melodic rocker; Walikis points out his drinking hasn’t improved much and may have prevented him from failing more spectacularly: “Should have fucked up better…was never much of a plan.”
The all leads to the CD ending mid-tempo country rock “Drinking of Me,” an amazingly mature reassessment of the life of a punk rocker who put his music and maybe drinking first and his now-ended relationship second. Walikis knows things are over and it’s mostly his fault, and eschews bitterness and nastiness for understanding, reflection and appreciation of what his ex went through and the effort she made. He tells her “I hope to God you’re not with someone like me,” and of course, sends her off with the title toast.
“Sasquatch Gold” can be obtained through Bandcamp or Apple Music, and Monkeywrench has pages on Facebook and Instagram.
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