East Brunswick five-piece Bobby Mahoney and The Seventh Son are a hard-working crew. They release albums and EPs at a pretty relentless clip and can be found playing live most weekends. The band have said of their latest release, Shot in the Dark, "We wanted to record an album that showcased this band in its current line-up, with a live, raw, and 'reckless' sound." That sound draws from some venerable New Jersey influences like The Gaslight Anthem and, by extension, Bruce Springsteen. The songs on Shot in the Dark are emotional, anthemic, and mostly loud.
Opener "Anxiety Queens" initially had me thinking that the "raw and reckless" sound the band were going for was acoustic and lo-fi. The song begins with Mahoney strumming and singing along with his acoustic guitar before it kicks into the raucous gear that characterizes much of the rest of the album. Mahoney possesses a grit and worldliness in his voice that's surprising for someone so young. It's something he sort of acknowledges when he sings, "We're too damn young to be so damn jaded."
The title track is another soaring anthem -- huge guitars, artillery fire drums, and Mahoney giving it his all on vocals. "Reckless" careens at high speed as Mahoney sings of his heart getting the better of his head. "Van Gogh" slows things down for its first half before ramping up the rock once again. The real breather comes during the acoustic "Talking in Your Sleep."
The final trio of songs sandwiches the emotional "Black and Milds" between two more rockers -- the Replacements'-influenced "Infamous" and the country-tinged "Leave It Frayed." On "Black and Milds," Mahoney calls himself "hopelessly romantic." That's reflected on all the songs on Shot in the Dark. They all possess the sincerity and emotion you hear in that strain of rousing, soul-stirring rock and roll that seems to grow best somewhere in the swamps of Jersey.
Bobby Mahoney and The Seventh Son are building on a venerable tradition. With a slew of releases under their belt, and a prolific songwriter steering the ship, they've already started making their own mark.
Shot in the Dark is available as a Name Your Price download from Bobby Mahoney and The Seventh Son's Bandcamp page.
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