dUg Pinnick is quite possibly the hardest working
musician in rock & roll. For those of you who
are unfamiliar with dUg, he is the bassist for the
band King’s X. When he is not recording or touring
for King’s X Pinnick is either creating solo
albums, making cameo appearances on other bands albums,
or creating new bands and recording with them. As
far as I am concerned the man is a machine and an
extremely talented one at that.
His latest solo CD entitled Strum Sum Up is in my
opinion his best solo effort to date. It is heavy,
it is groovy, it’s funky and it’s his
most diverse release to date. With a hint of King’s
X, a touch of Sly and the Family Stone, Strum Sum
Up is filled with songs that appeal to fans of all
genres. Opening the CD is the straight up ballsy rocker
entitled “Perfect World”, with other highlights
including the King’s X-esque “Life is
What You Make It”, the funkified “Coming
Over”, and “All I Want”.
Backing Pinnick are Galactic Cowboys guitarist Wally
Farkas, drummer Ray Luzier (Army of One), guitarist
Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Alain Johannes (Queens
of the Stone Age) and David Hennig (Big Wreck). With
a lineup like this you can only imagine the jam sessions
that take place on this CD. According to dUg, “The
jams you hear are all the first take. We would do
a song and them we’d jam, and the jam became
the second part of the songs. Some of the jams are
my favorite stuff on the record, and really showcase
some of my best paying.” I would have to agree
with this 100%.
On the whole Strum Sum Up is worth checking out.
Fans of King’s X will definitely want to check
it out. But if you are looking for a no frills album
with great jams and lot’s of energy then I would
recommend you check this CD out.
Key Tracks: “Life Is What You Make It”
Reviewed by Jeff Holton |
