Woody Mac: Beware the Monsters Album Review

Woody Mac: Beware the Monsters Album Review

Beware the Monsters is like an old road in a southern state, rocky in parts, but full of grit from start to finish.

Woody Mac’s second project is a Rock-infused country blues mash up that winds up being a decent attempt of capturing the gritty, more angsty, side of the genre.

The album shines mostly in its instrumentation, especially the guitar. The first song “Stand Tall” feels cinematic in its opening, with dirty guitar chords that drag you into the rebellious atmosphere that encapsulates the sound of the album.

Woody Mac’s gravelly vocals compliment the instrumentation like whiskey and coke, on the third track, “Rock N Roll Band”, his voice grates against the guitar’s agitation, as if he was retaliating against it. Although the song’s lyrics themselves are quite generic and the song idea isn’t all that original, it’s still fun and engaging to listen to with its in-your-face attitude.

Unfortunately, some of the album’s pitfalls however are also to do with how Woody uses his voice. “Good Lord Almighty” is the worst song on the album for that reason, I know Woody wants this to be more of a tongue-in-cheek type of song about girl problems, off-kilter tone he used ends up leaving the guitar feeling like its being overshadowed.

“Was Your Momma Right” falls victim to similar setbacks. The lyrics are uninteresting, and the delivery is a bit too out there to take seriously, the way Woody says lines like “your daddy scolded you” feels almost like a parody to how Country Rock singers sing, which is good if it’s supposed to be, but unfortunately, I’m pretty sure it isn’t. What this track needed the most was slicker which would’ve complimented its cool instrumental a lot more.

However, whilst an old southern road does tend to have its bumps and cracks, every few miles you find a short stretch of road that’s still pretty much intact. “Live Your Own Blues” feels like one of those stretches, it’s solemn yet determined atmosphere sets the scene of a lonesome wanderer looking for purpose, the lyrics are well-written and cohesive, and the guitar playing does an excellent job of setting the sunset, introspective tone of the song.

For me, the album’s finest stretch of gritty road is the album’s title track “Beware the Monsters”. Definitely the most cohesive track on the album and the best song idea too, telling the listener to beware of negative people that have come with the circumstances “of our time”, creatively calling them “rotting sow in a big farm”. Woody’s voice works perfectly with the instrumentation like it did with “Rock N Roll Band”, gravely warning the listener of “the monsters” over a wickedly sinister guitar riff. In my opinion, the album should’ve ended on this high note rather than “Little Diddy”, which feels a bit like a throwaway.

Score/Good: At the end of the road, Woody Mac’s “Beware the Monsters” feels like a trip worth taking if you’re into rough, rock music. It has cracks that need filling and potholes that need fixing, but for what it’s worth it’s the grit that counts.

Beware The Monster Available For Purchase

[I rank albums on a scale of: Poor, Good, Excellent, Outstanding.]

Written by Jake Campbell