Roadsaw Discography Review
The Roadsaw Catalogue
Today I thought I’d take a look at a band that I don’t believe gets enough media attention, one of my favorite stoner rock bands of all time, the mighty Roadsaw.
In 2015, just as I was slipping back into collecting vinyl after a more than a 25-year lapse, I ordered a copy of Monster Magnet’s latest release, Cobras and Fire (The Mastermind Redux). Contained in the package was a handful of stickers, including one from a band that was alien to me – Roadsaw. I looked up the band online, even briefly made email contact with one of the founding members, Tim Catz, as I did not find a great deal of information about the group on the net.
Catz was cool to communicate with, and he directed me to the group’s Bandcamp page. There I was able to sample a handful of tunes, and they really spoke to me. In particular, I loved the tracks “Starcock,” Roadsaw’s Sucking the 70’s compilation contribution “I’m Your Vehicle” (a cover of the old Ides of March tune), and the American Dream 7” release that featured “Not Today” with “Interplanetary Love Song” as the b-side.
“Starcock” has perhaps the greatest opening stanza in rock IMHO, “John Holmes’ ghost haunts the limo, trying to catch a ride, looking for a keyhole, it's not his size, you know, it’s the way to go, so we climbed inside with a deadman at the wheel.” The chorus isn’t bad either, “You can’t get to heaven in a car like that, there ain’t any tires left on it. You’ll never get to heaven with a cock like that, I heard that you killed someone with it.”
I set about attempting to collect as many Roadsaw releases as I could lay my hands upon. I quickly learned the band had a solid back catalogue, including the debut One Million Dollars, the follow up, Nationwide and Rawk N’ Roll.
The first album that I was able to secure a copy of on vinyl was the band’s 2011 self-titled LP release, Roadsaw. It is my favorite record they have issued to date. It features some truly stand-out tracks, including “Weight in Gold,” “So Low Down” “The Getaway,” “Motel Shoot Out,” and “Electric Heaven.”
This stoner rock group features two original members still, Craig Riggs (drums, vocals), and Tim Catz (bass, vocals). Rounding out the group as of their latest release, Tinnitus the Night, is Ian Ross (guitars). Ross joined the group in 1999, six years after the band's formation, and has been a terrific addition to the group’s sound, offering some blistering solos. Roadsaw, originating in 1993, has been releasing 70’s style, acid-drenched stoner rock for more than 30 years now, contributing a number of outstanding covers to compilations, including 2000’s Aerosmith tribute, Right in the Nuts, laying down a smokin’ hot version of “Toys in the Attic.”
The group followed that with a cover of the old Ides of March tune that I love so much, “I’m Your Vehicle” for the first Sucking the 70’s comp in 2002. In 2005 they once again contributed to that series, adding a cover of Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” for the edition of Sucking the 70’s - Back in the Saddle. While “I’m Your Vehicle” is one of my favorite covers ever by any group, and I thoroughly dig the Aerosmith track, the version of “When the Levee Breaks” didn’t really connect with me, as it sort of plods along at a slightly slower pace than the original, and just sounds off somehow.
Roadsaw would have been a tremendous covers band, though. Other excellent offerings from the group include a cover of Van Halen’s “Outta Love Again” (which opens with a killer bass line from Catz), “Where is My Mind” by The Pixies, and “I Smell a Rat,” originally by The Bags.
The group has also pitched in on the In the Groove comp, which features their original track “Blackout Driver,” and the Welcome to Meteor City series, giving that album “The Finger.” Each of those tracks returned for Roadsaw’s Rawk N’ Roll in 2007.
Additionally, Roadsaw has offered up a couple splits, a 7” single with Grind as their first official release in 1994, “The Sickest Ride,” and the EP The Boston Sherwood Tapes split with Blackrock that contains three tracks by Roadsaw, including The Pixies cover.
The band’s non-album releases also include a self-titled EP, not to be confused with the self-titled LP, and a pair of compilations that collect miscellaneous covers, b-sides, live in studio tracks, and outtakes: Takin’ Out the Trash (2000) and More Trash (2020).
Roadsaw’s most recent LP was Tinnitus the Night, on the Ripple Music label; that came in 2019. Following that, they dropped their second compilation album that assembled most of the band’s one-offs and unused tracks, the More Trash release. Since then, Roadsaw, which hails originally from Boston, has been silent.
Tinnitus the Night is probably my second favorite record Roadsaw has produced. The final pair of songs on that album are powerful, slow burners that really can chill you out after a stoner tour de force performance, in a slightly altered state of mind.
The 2008 album See You in Hell, in my mind at least, is the forgotten, oft overlooked record. It is by far, the one I spin the least; and that brings us to the Roadsaw EP, which contains just three tunes – “Twisted Steel and Broken Glass,” “Burn Down the Night,” and “Monkey Skull.”
So, now that we have tiptoed through the Roadsaw catalogue, let’s examine the band’s sound. I believe they fall into the same category of stoner rock bands like Sasquatch, Orange Goblin, Mothership and Wo Fat. Plenty of fuzz and stomp, and overall clean vocals.
What does the band not sound like?
Well, there’s Bongzilla, Weedeater, Acid Bath, and that brand of stoner metal. Roadsaw has more singing, less screeching.
Then, what sets Roadsaw apart from all these other bands?
I believe it’s the harmonies that Riggs and Catz combine to create, as well as the band’s willingness to experiment creatively, such as the inclusion of the odd interlude in “Blackout Driver,” the addition of unique instrumentation for a stoner band, using organs, bongoes, piano, and is that a cello I hear at the beginning of “Starcock.” Andrew Schneider contributes some outstanding piano work in the instrumental “Tarantula” from the Rawk N’ Roll album. On that same album is “Burnout,” a track that has a distortion effect on Riggs’ vocals that I really dig.
Catz has posted music videos for a pair of tracks from the Roadsaw album on YouTube, “Weight in Gold” and “So Low Down.” Check ‘em out, particularly the hilarious video for “So Low Down.”
If I were to assemble a playlist of my favorite Roadsaw tracks from the group’s entire catalogue it would look like this:
“Fancy Pants” from One Million Dollars
“Handed You Your Ass” from One Million Dollars
“So Low Down” from Roadsaw, LP
“Electric Heaven” from Roadsaw, LP
“Not Today” from Nationwide
“Interplanetary Love Song” from American Dream 7”
“In Threes” from Nationwide
“Satellite” from Nationwide
“Starcock” from One Million Dollars
“Blackout Driver” from In the Groove
“The Getaway” from Roadsaw, LP
“Motel Shoot Out” from Roadsaw, LP
“The Finger” from Welcome to Meteor City
“I’m Your Vehicle” from Sucking the 70’s
“Outta Love Again” from Takin’ Out the Trash
“Where is My Mind” from The Boston Sherwood Tapes
“Toys in the Attic” from Right in the Nuts
“Scorpion Bowl” from Rawk N’ Roll
“Foot” from Rawk N’ Roll
“Arlen” from Takin’ Out the Trash
“Dead and Buried” from Roadsaw, LP
“Weight in Gold” from Roadsaw, LP
“That’s Mr. Motherfucker to You” from Rawk N’ Roll
“Thinking of Me” from Roadsaw, LP
“Too Much is Not Enough” from Roadsaw, LP
“Midazolam” from Tinnitus the Night
“Silence” from Tinnitus the Night
“Dead Astronaut” from More Trash
“Burnout” from Rawk N’ Roll
“Tarantula” from Rawk N’ Roll
“Long in the Tooth” from Roadsaw, LP
and
“Shake” from Tinnitus the Night
In closing, I’m sharing a couple quotes from a Roadsaw song I really identify with:
“Too old to rock and roll, and too young to die, too late to save my soul, so don’t even try.” ~ Roadsaw, “Long in the Tooth” from Roadsaw (2011).
And
“I’ll never get to heaven, and I’ll never be rich,
But the devil is my friend, so I get in on the guest list.” ~ ibid.
~Mike