Sweet Nasty doesn’t live up to its name

Sweet Nasty

Life on Fire

Stereophonic… Sweet Nasty

Life on Fire

Stereophonic Records

Grade: C-

Rocks Like: Drive-By Truckers, Phish, The Black Crowes

Contrary to its name, the Prescott, Ariz.-based band Sweet Nasty is neither sweet nor nasty. The band promises to include “sweet ballads that tear you apart and those nasty grooves that get you moving” on its sophomore album, Life on Fire. But Sweet Nasty is blandly catchy at its best and downright boring and uninspired the rest of the time.

Following in the vein of other jam-band groups such as Phish and Sublime with a down-home country vibe, Sweet Nasty tries to create a mellow sound. Ideally, it should be perfect for a backyard barbecue or an afternoon smoke session. Instead of creating background music, however, most songs are easy to ignore — and at times you even forget that there is music on at all.

While vocalists Anthony V. Fusco’s and Johnny Low’s voices do have an interesting twang to them that is mirrored well by the rest of the band’s instruments, they would most likely translate better into a live performance than an album.

The main issue with Life on Fire is that no matter how interesting a lead singer’s voice is, if the lyrics are as generic and ultimately pointless as Sweet Nasty’s are, it becomes too hard to sell. On tracks such as “Midnight Train to Austin,” the lyrics are just shy of cliché. Throw in a long walk down a lonely road and some teardrops on your guitar and they’d be downright cheesy.

Other than an awkwardly suggestive name, Sweet Nasty has little to offer listeners.