The first time that I saw Full Flower Moon Band live, I did not know anything about them at all. After 30 minutes of their full throttle rock, with Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon, at the helm, I was a believer. When Babyshakes held her guitar up rifle-like towards the crowd, as if to shoot us down, I was frozen, not with fear but with fascination. It was like being gunned down by the love child of Cherie Curry and Josh Homme.
A few months on and Full Flower Moon Band have released a new album ‘Diesel Forever’. The album, true to its title, is gritty and infused with the mythology of escape via the open road. Appropriately, the first song on the album is called ‘Highway’ and the lyrics “I’m on the highway / I’m in control / I’m in a sweet place / With rock and roll” elicit memories of that ultimate seeker of the open road, Bruce Springsteen. “Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair / Well the night’s busting open, these two lanes will take us anywhere / We got one last chance to make it real” he famously sang on ‘Thunder Road’. Full Flower Moon have reinterpreted his mythological notion of escape for a new generation. And it works. Beautifully.
This record was written while I was touring the US and Europe with my sister band Gabriella Cohen. That band showed me the most incredible highs of being in the industry; living the dream from 2015 – 2019. As a touring band we were a happy, healthy group – but we bore witness to darkness around us. The never-ending hustle: extreme crowds, isolation, addiction, and burnout. The mythology of rock n roll and its utopian sales pitch is Diesel Forever.
Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon
The album comprises 9 tracks of alt rock with the band in full assault mode – it’s an awesome juxtaposition – the menace of the band versus Dillon’s lyrics which are playful and even “girly” at times. The last song on the album features Dillon backing herself acoustically, although the band is absent from ‘Take Love’ it is a perfect ending to the album as she sings, “Take love, take the open road” and “Choose love choose the open road”. Not only does she affirm Springsteen’s mythologising about finding freedom and release by hitting the highway in a six cylinder vehicle, but the yearning for love is a nod to the Triffids’ classic ‘Wide Open Road‘.
Some might say that rock is redundant but an album like ‘Diesel Forever’ proves that the mythology of escape via rock music and a dodgy car is still as relevant today as when a young man from New Jersey first sang first about escaping drudgery in his “suicide machine” so many years ago.
Buy/Stream ‘Diesel Forever’ HERE.
Full Flower Moon Band on ‘Diesel Forever’ is:
Vocals & Guitar Babyshakes Dillon
Drums Luke Hanson
Guitar Christian Driscoll
Guitar Caleb Widener
Bass Drew Heijden
BVs Jess Ferronato + Mystic
Photo Credit: James Caswell
