Southern Culture on the Skids: Mojo Box : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

For more than a decade, the three North Carolinians in Southern Culture on the Skids have been honing their party-hearty mix of rockabilly swagger, surf-rock speed and countrified melodies. But the band's skill and experience can't rescue the dullish Mojo Box, an album weighed down by greaser shtick and an overabundance of generic up-tempo rockers. "I Want a Love" and the very pretty "Where Is the Moon?" turn ancient pop-song conceits into nicely bittersweet love odes, thanks especially to bassist Mary Huff's throaty singing, but when the tempo speeds up, the band seems to lose its songwriting touch. " '69 El Camino" and "Doublewide" burn ahead with sizzling boogie beats, but let's face it: The world doesn't need any more semi-ironic songs about vintage cars or trailer parks unless they're really, really great. SCOTS could stand to think outside the Mojo Box.

CHRISTIAN HOARD
(RS 942, February 19, 2004)