Moxy and the Influence - The Best Revenge
Moxy and the Influence - CD Review
The Best Revenge
CD Info:
Label: Independent
Genre: Hard rock/heavy metal
Language: English
Tracks: 4
Total time: 13:05
Rating: 9 of 10
Nearly all older metalheads (such as myself) have been guilty of the following refrain at least once: “these kids today don’t know what real music is!” Too often we undermine or discredit the younger generation, or take for granted that metal has a listening audience beneath the age of 35; but the truth is, metal is still alive and well. I see it at the shows I attend, where parents have raised their kids to be metalheads, and entire families take vacations centered around following their favorite metal bands on tour. I see kids barely old enough to drive, making road trips from their small town 4 hours away so they can go to an in-store signing where a metal legend makes a rare appearance interacting with their fans. Maybe the kids that we’re yelling to get off our lawn all the time are only approaching us so closely because they want to take a gander at our music libraries!
As a fan of femme-metal, it goes without saying that I appreciate a good female vocalist; but I especially love it when an all-female metal band surfaces. Brings back memories of the days when I listened to Phantom Blue in high school, and thought to myself that any one of those ladies could give their male counterparts a run for the money on their given instruments. Now, all these years later, there’s a new all-female Southern Californian metal band that has come along to take up the mantle and give the boys a run for their money: Orange County’s Moxy and the Influence (MXI for short), a quartet of talented young females ranging in age from 20 years old all the way down to age 13!
Not only have they got tons of talent, but they’re bringing back that old-school heavy metal sound in a big way! With blazing guitar riffs, pounding drums and the mighty voice of vocalist Moxy Anne, MXI is sure to appeal to fans of bands like Halestorm. From the opening track “Watch Your Mouth”, with cheeky lyrics like “if you don’t kiss my ass, it’s time for me to kick yours”, this band is firing on all cylinders. The EP’s single, “Stomp You Down”, is a brutally heavy track that showcases various nuances of Moxy Anne’s voice very well. But it’s not all lightning-fast riffs; “Bella’s Song” is a lovely acoustic piece with lyrics that hint at suicide or cutting, issues that resonate with younger people these days. Moxy Anne sounds positively beautiful on this track. Then there’s the final track, “This One’s for You”, which has ‘80s metal anthem written all over it; it’s a fist-pumping, foot-stomping tune that’s sure to get you headbanging. This would be the song that everyone sings along to at the gigs and would be all over the radio if radio still played promising new talent instead of auto-tuned crap…but I digress. The only complaint I could find about this album is that I wished there was more music! But that only gives me something to anticipate, and I definitely look forward to hearing what these talented gals will do next. In just 13 minutes, Moxy and the Influence has managed to rock my world; if you have just as much time to spare, give The Best Revenge a listen and they will surely rock yours, too.
Special thanks to Elisa Mohr.
Extra-special thanks to Sudra Kaye.
For more information on Moxy and the Influence, visit the band’s website
