Reviewed by Toby Fournier

Nashville's Rusty Shipp immerse us in their second Stephen Leiweke-produced concept album, steadily growing their reputation and fan base along the way. 'Liquid Exorcist' has 10 tracks, however, five of these are salty interludes, setting the tone for the next full size track. The album- opening interlude "Mine Factory" takes us deep-sea diving via heavy guitar engineering before the primal and dramatic "Liquid Pendulum" lets us ride on its epic riffage. Fans of Soundgarden or Nirvana will find kindred musical souls here. The new-wave inspired "Detonator" recalls the best of Television intros before launching further riffage of the QOTSA variety - syncopated, insistent, rough yet gloriously defined radio-ready rock. The ridiculously catchy "Breaking Waves" lyrics sum up the spiritual meaning of the album ("Breaking Waves, crashing on your accolades. . .one by one, till your soul is what remains"). If I had a criticism it would be that the between track interludes could have been more adventurous (ie, the guitars could have been left out for something more thalassic) and occasionally it's good to through the template away. But I'm nitpicking. This is a joyously rough yet polished slice of rock that should ensure that Rusty Shipp sail on.

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