Gassed-up trucker rock

The Randy Cliffs - Trixie's Trailer Sales
(Four on the Floor Records)
3 1/2 stars (out of 5 stars)
Reviewed: July 6, 2004

Review by Tony Bonyata

Peeling out of Madison, WI like an eighteen-wheeler fueled on cheap bourbon and nitroglycerine comes The Randy Cliffs - a rough-hewed quartet that specializes in their own dangerous blend of roots-based rock & roll.
On their first full-length release, Trixie's Trailer Sales the band slams back a double shot of raunchy rock on songs such as "Trucker's Lullaby," "Dixie" and "Aberdeen," and follows it with a Southern soaked chaser on the infectious runaway hayride of a number "Rural Free Delivery," as well as "Juke Joint," a full-throttle rocker which shotgun weds the Alabama drawl of Lynyrd Skynyrd with the scowling punk snarl of The New York Dolls.
The album was recorded and mastered throughout three different studios in the boys' hometown of Madison (Smart, DNA and Paradyme). While engineer Jake Johnson has made sure that Brian Celmer's stinging guitars burn through the mix like a white-hot branding iron straight from the coals, he's also seen to it to leave enough dirt on the floorboards for bassist Johnny Wied and drummer Tony Bitner to kick up a cloud of raucous rhythms. Tying the whole package together is vocalist/guitarist Colin Mehlum, whose closing-time rasp adds an element of danger throughout many of the numbers.
With a no nonsense approach to their gritty, nicotine-stained trucker rock, The Randy Cliffs are gassed up and sticking the pedal to the metal for one helluva joyride.