Cold Blue Sky 
Artist: Gristle 
Label: Metal Blade 
Length: 10 tracks / 49:20 min
http://www.myspace.com/gristlemusic

Since the long-lamented breakup of Galactic Cowboys ten years ago, fans of the band have been looking under rocks and trees for anything to feed their fix.  While former band members have continued to make and release quality music (e.g. The Sonnier Brothers Band and Wally Farkas’ Xenuphobe project with Ty Tabor),  with "apart from Alan Doss’ produced Jambi Revenge and portions of Monty Colvin's Crunchy albums, there really hadn’t been anything that captured their signature heavy melodic sound. Until now.

For several years, former Galactic Cowboys lead singer Ben Huggins has teamed with his son Shane on bass, Len Sonnier (Atomic Opera, Sonnier Brothers Band) on guitar, and Chad Lyons on drums to put together Houston-area rock band Gristle.  Their long-awaited album, Cold Blue Sky, now available for download on iTunes, Amazon and Napster, resurrects that sound and a bit more.

Each of Gristle’s ten songs is catchy and unique, giving the listener a lot to chew on, but most were made with the basic of recipe of plodding power pop, soaring guitar solos, and methodical time-signature changes, with a pinch of southern rock and the occasional piano or organ for ambience.

Especially noticeable, in “Why” and “Making it All Go Away,” Gristle incorporates layers of dissonance to erect a wall-of-sound with their guitars, serving to highlight Chad’s drums and Ben’s vocals.  The latter are showcased in the immaculately placed, rock-out closer, “Only Love Can Save Us Now,” which gives Ben loads of long notes where he can start clean and go gravely at the end.

Fans of the Gristle members’ previous efforts as well as bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, and Led Zeppelin should lift their gaze to the Cold Blue Sky.

Dan Singleton