Can you imagine if a band took their obsession with cocaine to an extreme whereby they included it in their name, their album’s artwork, the packaging and wrote about it in song ad nauseam? Well Cocaine Moustache have just made that a reality; I won’t judge them on their glorification the illicit white powder—because it’s a reflection on them and if they’re ‘okay’ with that then so be it. Cocaine Moustache’s latest effort is entitled On the Mirror thus continuing the cocaine theme that surrounds the songs found within.


Cocaine Moustache are a hybrid of blues, funk and groove metal; which sounds interesting on paper however it makes for a disjointed album and On the Mirror proves to be just too monotonous to get through. Cocaine Moustache tries to do too much within the confines of the three genres they are incorporating. Are they funk? Are they blues rock? Or metal? These questions combined with the extremely juvenile, unimaginative lyrics make it hard not to reach for the ‘eject’ button for a brief reprieve.


There’s no middle of the road with Cocaine Moustache if the songs are bad they’re really bad case as with “The Drip,” “Out of My Hands,” and “Better Back in Time.” The most memorable thing about these songs is the solid lead guitar play by Schnick Von Schlutzzz and tight rhythm guitar play by Bill “Hundred Dollar” Rollins. Singer White Willie Sniffsum sounds like a cross between Glen Danzig and Neil Fallon of Clutch. In fact Cocaine Moustache’s sound when they lay down more blues based material is damn good and I’d say is what they do best despite the goofy lyrics. Prime examples of this are the bluesy tracks like; “The Pledge,” “Cocaine Moustache,” and “Garbage Bags and Shovels” again if you can get past the lyrical abomination, you’ll find them ‘enjoyable.’ I will add that there was a moment of brilliance which is found in the song “Garbage Bags and Shovels” where White Willie Sniffsum sings “In the animal kingdom– you’re a lion and cheetah; but in the real world, you’re just a liar and a cheater.” I don’t know if this is a matter of ignorance being bliss, but I did like that line. I can’t help but wonder much better On the Mirror would be if they’d put more effort in writing ‘good’ lyrics, if the songs were shorter and if they committed to either blues rock (strongly recommended), funk or groove metal. If you have the patience, the time and extra spending money then On the Mirror might be for you; otherwise avoid it.

Cocaine Moustache
On the Mirror
Reversed Records 2011